Zoilus, n.

zoilus
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoilus_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# Zoilusnoun

## Earlier version

- Zoilus in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun Zoilus mean?

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

About 0.02occurrences per million words in modern written English

1750 | 0.3
1760 | 0.3
1770 | 0.3
1780 | 0.29
1790 | 0.27
1800 | 0.22
1810 | 0.2
1820 | 0.19
1830 | 0.16
1840 | 0.12
1850 | 0.1
1860 | 0.081
1870 | 0.072
1880 | 0.068
1890 | 0.063
1900 | 0.058
1910 | 0.057
1920 | 0.058
1930 | 0.053
1940 | 0.047
1950 | 0.04
1960 | 0.036
1970 | 0.032
1980 | 0.028
1990 | 0.021
2000 | 0.017
2010 | 0.015

### How is the noun Zoilus pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzəʊɪləs/

### Where does the noun Zoilus come from?

Earliest known use

mid 1500s

The earliest known use of the noun Zoilus is in the mid 1500s.

OED's earliest evidence for Zoilus is from 1565, in a dictionary by S. Cooper.

Zoilus is a borrowing from Latin.

### Nearby entries

1. -zoic, comb. form²
2. zoid, n. 1856–
3. zoid, adj. 1864–
4. zoidiophilous, adj. 1872–
5. zoidogamous, adj. 1899–
6. Zoilean, adj. 1846–
7. Zoilism, n. 1609–
8. Zoilist, n. 1594–
9. Zoilitical, adj. 1665
10. Zoilous, adj. 1577–
11. Zoilus, n.1565–
12. zoisite, n. 1805–
13. zoism, n. 1900–
14. zoist, n. 1843–
15. zoistic, adj. 1849–
16. zoite, n. 1963–
17. -zoite, comb. form
18. zol, n. 1946–
19. Zolaesque, adj. 1886–
20. Zolaism, n. 1882–
21. Zolaist, n. 1886–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Latin.
Latin, < Greek Ζωΐλος. Compare French zoïle, Italian zoilo, Spanish zoilo…
Latin, < Greek Ζωΐλος. Compare French zoïle, Italian zoilo, Spanish zoilo.

### Notes

The supposed relation of Ζωΐλος to ζῆλος zeal n., which is held to account for the association of the notion of malignancy or envy with this word, is reflected in the following:

1. 1597

   > There..resolution to suffer for there bad causes will intice the ignorant..to thinck that there outragiouse zoyle is a sanctified zeale.

   J. Payne, Royall Exchange 23

## Meaning & use

1. 1565–
   Name of a Greek critic and grammarian (4th century b.c.) famous for his severe criticism of Homer; transferred (with plural Zoili, Zoiluses), a censorious, malignant, or envious critic.
   1. 1565

      > Of him, all malicious carpers of other mens wourkes be called Zoili.

      S. Cooper, Dict. Historicum (at cited word), in Thesaurus
   2. 1567

      > Carp not ye cankred Zoiles al, the men Whose labour spente in paynfull toyle hath ben.

      J. Sanford, translation of Epictetus, Man. A v b
   3. 1575

      > Although that Zoylus would him spot, Let him doe what he may.

      W. Clowes in J. Banister's Treatise Chirurg. In praise of Author
   4. 1580

      > To defende my imperfection, against a sorte of Momus secte, and Zoilus bande.

      R. Hitchcock, Pollitique Platt Preface **ij
   5. 1609

      > Zoilisses and Thersitisses.

      J. Dowland, translation of A. Ornithoparchus, Micrologus 76
   6. 1612

      > Such as are eminent should be careful of their conuersations when they are besieged with such malitious Zoiles.

      R. Sheldon, 1st Sermon after Conversion 47
   7. 1636

      > Carping Zoilusses, or malignant Momusses whom no men can please.

      W. Prynne, Remonstrance against Shipmoney Epistle
   8. 1818

      > This formidable Zoilus of the Crawley family.

      Lady Morgan, Florence Macarthy (1819) vol. II. ii. 99
   9. a1834

      > How then comes it that not only single Zoili, but whole nations have combined in unhesitating condemnation of our great dramatist?

      S. T. Coleridge, Notes & Lectures (1849) vol. I. 64
   grammar
   1. plucker-at c1500
      A person who plucks someone or something (in various senses of the verb). Also with adverbs.
   2. pick-fault 1544–
      a. n. A fault-finder; †b. adj. fault-finding (Obsolete).
   3. pick mote 1549
      A person who draws attention to trivial faults in others (in 1549 as part of a humorous, mocking title).
   4. trip-taker 1556
      One who ‘takes another in a trip’, a fault-finder.
   5. mome 1563–1676
      A carping critic.
   6. Momus 1563–
      a. The Greek god of censure and ridicule, who was banished from Olympus for his criticisms of the gods; (also) a representation of the god. b. A…
   7. Zoilus 1565–
      Name of a Greek critic and grammarian (4th century b.c.) famous for his severe criticism of Homer; transferred (with plural Zoili, Zoiluses), a…
   8. find-fault 1567–
      A person who finds fault (see fault, n. 6); a fault-finder, a censorious person.
   9. caviller 1574–
      One who cavils; a captious or frivolous objector, a quibbling disputant.
   10. carper 1579–
       One who carps. A fault-finder, a caviller, a captious critic.
   11. sheep-biter?1589–1778
       figurative. a. ? A malicious or censorious fellow. b. A shifty, sneaking, or thievish fellow. Cf. sheep-biting, n. Obsolete.
   12. Zoilist 1594–
       An imitator of Zoilus, a carping critic.
   13. momist 1597–1641
       A person who habitually finds fault; a harsh critic.
   14. word-catcher 1659–
       a. A person who catches or cavils at words, a petty or carping critic (now rare); b. a person who catches or makes a collection of words.
   15. knocker 1898–
       A fault-finder, one who is much given to captious criticism. (Cf. knock, v. 2g) colloquial (originally U.S.).
   16. crabber 1909–
       One who finds fault or criticizes adversely.
   17. kvetch 1936–
       A detestable or unpleasant person; esp. a person who criticizes or complains a great deal.
   18. tearer-downer 1942–
       One who tears down, a carping critic (cf. tear, v.¹ I.3h).
   19. nitpicker 1951–
       A pedantic critic; a petty fault-finder.
   20. kvetcher 1968–
       = kvetch, n. 1.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzəʊɪləs/

####

##### 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.

## Forms

### Variant forms

Also 1500s–1600s Zoylus, 1600s Zoilis; also 1500s–1600s anglicized Zoil(e, Zoyl(e.

## Frequency

Zoilus typically occurs about 0.02 times per million words in modern written English.

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

### Frequency of Zoilus, n., 1750–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1750 | 0.3
1760 | 0.3
1770 | 0.3
1780 | 0.29
1790 | 0.27
1800 | 0.22
1810 | 0.2
1820 | 0.19
1830 | 0.16
1840 | 0.12
1850 | 0.1
1860 | 0.081
1870 | 0.072
1880 | 0.068
1890 | 0.063
1900 | 0.058
1910 | 0.057
1920 | 0.058
1930 | 0.053
1940 | 0.047
1950 | 0.04
1960 | 0.036
1970 | 0.032
1980 | 0.028
1990 | 0.021
2000 | 0.017
2010 | 0.015

## Compounds & derived words

Sort by

1. Zoilous, adj. 1577–
   Characteristic of Zoilus or his criticism.

1. Zoilist, n. 1594–
   An imitator of Zoilus, a carping critic.

1. Zoilism, n. 1609–
   Carping criticism like that of Zoilus.

1. Zoilitical, adj. 1665
   = Zoilous, adj.

1. Zoilean, adj. 1846–
   = Zoilous, adj.

Zoilus, n. was first published in 1921; not fully revised.

Zoilus, n. was last modified in March 2025.