zoarialadjective
Factsheet
What does the adjective zoarial mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective zoarial. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
Entry status
OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.
How common is the adjective zoarial?
| 1890 | 0.016 |
| 1900 | 0.014 |
| 1910 | 0.014 |
| 1920 | 0.014 |
| 1930 | 0.016 |
| 1940 | 0.018 |
| 1950 | 0.017 |
| 1960 | 0.0098 |
| 1970 | 0.0087 |
| 1980 | 0.0074 |
| 1990 | 0.0065 |
| 2000 | 0.0046 |
| 2010 | 0.0017 |
Where does the adjective zoarial come from?
Earliest known use
1890s
The earliest known use of the adjective zoarial is in the 1890s.
OED's only evidence for zoarial is from 1896, in the writing of John Walter Gregory, geologist and explorer.
Nearby entries
- -zoa, comb. form
- -zoan, comb. form
- zoantharian, adj. & n.1887–
- zoanthid, n.1870–
- zoanthidan, adj.1888–
- zoanthodeme, n.1877–
- zoanthoid, adj.1854–
- zoanthropic, adj.1891–
- zoanthropy, n.1856–
- zoanthus, n.1841–
- zoarial, adj.1896–
- zoarium, n.1880–
- zob, n.1911–
- zocalo, n.1884–
- zocco, n.1664–1723
- zocle, n.1704–
- zoco, n.1892–
- zodiac, n.1390–
- zodiacal, adj.1576–
- zodiac line, n.1590
- zodiac ring, n.1895–
Meaning & use
- 1896–Pertaining to or constituting a zoarium.Stressed as zoˈarial.
- 1896
In typical Diastopora the zoarium consists of two layers of zoœcia, one on each side of the zoarial lamina.
J. W. Gregory, Catalogue Fossil Bryozoa Introduction 16
- zoarial1896–Pertaining to or constituting a zoarium.
Frequency
zoarial typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zoarial is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of zoarial, adj., 1890–2010
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.
The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.
For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.
| Decade | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 1890 | 0.016 |
| 1900 | 0.014 |
| 1910 | 0.014 |
| 1920 | 0.014 |
| 1930 | 0.016 |
| 1940 | 0.018 |
| 1950 | 0.017 |
| 1960 | 0.0098 |
| 1970 | 0.0087 |
| 1980 | 0.0074 |
| 1990 | 0.0065 |
| 2000 | 0.0046 |
| 2010 | 0.0017 |