zebra musselnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zebra mussel mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zebra mussel. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zebra mussel?
| 1870 | 0.0006 |
| 1880 | 0.0005 |
| 1890 | 0.0004 |
| 1900 | 0.0004 |
| 1910 | 0.0004 |
| 1920 | 0.0005 |
| 1930 | 0.0007 |
| 1940 | 0.001 |
| 1950 | 0.0013 |
| 1960 | 0.02 |
| 1970 | 0.035 |
| 1980 | 0.051 |
| 1990 | 0.06 |
| 2000 | 0.071 |
| 2010 | 0.088 |
How is the noun zebra mussel pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zebra mussel come from?
Earliest known use
1860s
The earliest known use of the noun zebra mussel is in the 1860s.
OED's earliest evidence for zebra mussel is from 1866, in the writing of Ralph Tate.
Nearby entries
- zebra caterpillar, n.1841–
- zebra crossing, n.1934–
- zebra danio, n.1917–
- zebraed, adj.1806–
- zebra finch, n.1868–
- zebrafish, n.1771–
- zebraic, adj.1858–
- zebra marking, n.1854–
- zebra moray, n.1933–
- zebra mule, n.1841–
- zebra mussel, n.1866–
- zebrano, n.1908–
- zebra opossum, n.1808–
- zebra parakeet, n.1856–
- zebra plant, n.1826–
- zebra poison, n.1871–74
- zebra print, n. & adj.1932–
- zebra rhomb, n.1770–1844
- zebra rock, n.1895–
- zebra rush, n.1882–
- zebra shark, n.1804–
Etymology
Meaning & use
- 1866–A small freshwater mussel with a striped pattern on the shell, Dreissena polymorpha (family Dreissenidae), native to the Black Sea and Caspian Sea but now considered an invasive species in many countries.
- 1866
The Zebra Mussel made its appearance in the neighbourhood of Gloucester a few years after the opening of the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal.
R. Tate, Plain & Easy Account Mollusks of Great Britain ii. 23 - 1899
The zebra mussel is a native of the rivers of Southern Russia.
Speaker 18 February 204/1 - 1938
Larger organisms, such as..the zebra mussel, may find their way into exposed water on the feet of birds.
Lancet 5 February 357/1 - 1959
The organism most likely to be mistaken for a rotifer is the planktonic larva of Dreissena , the Zebra Mussel.
T. T. Macan, Guide to Freshwater Invertebrate Animals 10 - 2013
Thames Water is removing hundreds of tons of zebra mussels from the 8ft wide tunnels.
Daily Telegraph 16 September 35/5
the world animals invertebrates subkingdom Metazoa grade Triploblastica or Coelomata class Pelecypoda or Conchifera [nouns] section Asiphonida family Unionidae member of- musselOld English–Any of numerous bivalve molluscs found worldwide, typically having a brown or blackish shell and belonging chiefly to the orders Mytiloida (marine…
- palour1589–1880Any of various kinds of cockle, mussel, or other (esp. edible) bivalve mollusc.
- pearl mussel1607–A mussel from which pearls may be obtained, esp. a freshwater mussel of the family Unionidae.
- hena1613–Any of several edible bivalve molluscs: †(a) British regional a scallop of the genus Chlamys, and the surf clam, Spisula solida (obsolete); (b) Nort…
- horse-mussel1626–A large and coarse kind of mussel of the genus Modiola; (also) a freshwater mussel, Unio or Anodonta.
- clam1672–A name applied to various bivalve shellfish. In North America, applied esp. to two species, the Hard or Round Clam (Venus mercenaria), and the…
- clamp1672An earlier name of the edible Clams of North America.
- pearl shell1781A shell which is lined with nacre or mother-of-pearl; the substance of such shells, as a material or commodity. Also: a mollusc which produces…
- glam1797Apparently: a clam (clam, n.² 1).
- naiad1829–Zoology. Chiefly North American. A freshwater mussel or shell, as distinguished from a marine one. Usually in plural, in form naiades. Cf. naid, n.…
- naid1854Zoology. A freshwater mussel. Cf. naiad, n. 2. Obsolete. rare.
- unionid1861–A bivalve mollusc of the family Unionidae; a unio.
- zebra mussel1866–A small freshwater mussel with a striped pattern on the shell, Dreissena polymorpha (family Dreissenidae), native to the Black Sea and Caspian Sea…
- unionoid1891–A mollusc of the family Unionidae or order Unionoida; a freshwater mussel.
- hackleback1899–U.S. regional. A North American freshwater mussel, Lasmigona complanata, with rough ridges on the shell. Now rare.
- maple leaf1908–U.S. An edible freshwater mussel, Quadrula quadrula (family Unionidae), found chiefly in the Mississippi Valley.
- monkey-face1936–U.S. A freshwater mussel, Quadrula metanevra (family Unionidae), with a yellow to light brown shell, found in medium to large rivers in parts of…
- unioid1987–= unionoid, n.
Pronunciation
British English
U.S. English
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
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.
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence
Vowels
- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- 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.
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
Consonants
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values
- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige
Vowels
- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot
Frequency
zebra mussel typically occurs about 0.06 times per million words in modern written English.
zebra mussel is in frequency band 3, which contains words occurring between 0.01 and 0.1 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of zebra mussel, n., 1870–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1870 | 0.0006 |
| 1880 | 0.0005 |
| 1890 | 0.0004 |
| 1900 | 0.0004 |
| 1910 | 0.0004 |
| 1920 | 0.0005 |
| 1930 | 0.0007 |
| 1940 | 0.001 |
| 1950 | 0.0013 |
| 1960 | 0.02 |
| 1970 | 0.035 |
| 1980 | 0.051 |
| 1990 | 0.06 |
| 2000 | 0.071 |
| 2010 | 0.088 |
Frequency of zebra mussel, n., 2017–2024
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.
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 corpus.
| Period | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 0.093 |
| 2018 | 0.081 |
| 2019 | 0.093 |
| 2020 | 0.09 |
| 2021 | 0.088 |
| 2022 | 0.086 |
| 2023 | 0.096 |
| 2024 | 0.081 |