zoite, n.

zoite
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoite_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1986; not fully revised

# zoitenoun

## Earlier version

- zoite in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zoite mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zoite. 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 noun zoite?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1960 | 0.0062
1970 | 0.0057
1980 | 0.0054
1990 | 0.0054
2000 | 0.0055
2010 | 0.0049

### How is the noun zoite pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzəʊʌɪt/

### Where does the noun zoite come from?

Earliest known use

1960s

The earliest known use of the noun zoite is in the 1960s.

OED's earliest evidence for zoite is from 1963, in the writing of E. N. Kozloff.

zoite is formed within English, by conversion.

Etymons: ‑zoite comb. form.

### Nearby entries

1. Zoilean, adj. 1846–
2. Zoilism, n. 1609–
3. Zoilist, n. 1594–
4. Zoilitical, adj. 1665
5. Zoilous, adj. 1577–
6. Zoilus, n. 1565–
7. zoisite, n. 1805–
8. zoism, n. 1900–
9. zoist, n. 1843–
10. zoistic, adj. 1849–
11. zoite, n.1963–
12. -zoite, comb. form
13. zol, n. 1946–
14. Zolaesque, adj. 1886–
15. Zolaism, n. 1882–
16. Zolaist, n. 1886–
17. Zolaize, v. 1886–
18. Zollinger–Ellison syndrome, n. 1956–
19. Zöllner, n. 1890–
20. zollverein, n. 1843–
21. zolotnik, n. 1783–

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by conversion.
Etymon: ‑zoite comb. form.
The suffix ‑zoite comb. form used as an independent word.

## Meaning & use

Zoology.

1. 1963–
   (See quots.)
   1. 1963

      > It appears advisable to reconsider the terminology applied to stages in the life-histories of gregarines and coccidians... Zoite, an infective stage, produced by division of a zygote, and usually surrounded by an envelope which is either a zoitocyst or zygocyst.

      E. N. Kozloff in J. Ludvík et al., Progress in Protozoology (Proc. 1st Internat. Congr. Protozool., Prague, 1961) 78
   2. 1969

      > Another stage in the development of Toxoplasma is the cystic form or zoite.

      New Scientist 29 May 465/1
   3. 1977

      > Electronmicroscopic studies revealed that the structure of T. gondii zoites (trophozoites, merozoites, ‘spores’, etc.) is similar to that of the zoites of the coccidia Eimeria and Isospora.

      Journal of Protozoology vol. 24 36/1
   4. 1979

      > Uninucleate, dinucleate, and multinucleate zoites.

      Journal of Protozoology vol. 26 437/1
   5. 1980

      > Ultrastructurally, cysts of T [oxoplasma] gondii and H [ammondia] hammondi cannot be distinguished with certainty in skeletal muscle. Classification is based on the typical distribution of cysts and their zoites in the intermediate host.

      Journal of Parasitology vol. 66 67/1
   animals microbiology
   1. zoite 1963–
      (See quots.)
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzəʊʌɪt/

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

## Frequency

zoite typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zoite 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 data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zoite, n., 1960–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1960 | 0.0062
1970 | 0.0057
1980 | 0.0054
1990 | 0.0054
2000 | 0.0055
2010 | 0.0049

zoite, n. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.

zoite, n. was last modified in December 2024.