zoysianoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zoysia mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zoysia. 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 zoysia?
| 2017 | 0.003 |
| 2018 | 0.0022 |
| 2019 | 0.0018 |
| 2020 | 0.0026 |
| 2021 | 0.0033 |
| 2022 | 0.0038 |
| 2023 | 0.0048 |
| 2024 | 0.0064 |
How is the noun zoysia pronounced?
British English
Where does the noun zoysia come from?
Earliest known use
1960s
The earliest known use of the noun zoysia is in the 1960s.
OED's earliest evidence for zoysia is from 1965, in the writing of M. C. Neal.
zoysia is a borrowing from Latin.
Nearby entries
- zos-grass, n.1937–
- zoster, n.1601–
- zostera, n.1819–
- zosterops, n.1867–
- Zouave, n.1848–
- zouk, n.1986–
- zounds, v.1680
- zounds, int.a1593–
- Zou-Zou, n.1860–
- zowie, int.1902–
- zoysia, n.1965–
- ZPG, n.1970–
- Zr, n.1814–
- zubr, n.1763–
- zubrowka, n.1916–
- zucarine, adj.a1425
- zucca, n.1818–
- zucchetto, n.1853–
- zucchini, n.1916–
- zuche, n.1358–1676
- Zuckerkandl, n.1910–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1965–A perennial grass of the genus of this name, native to eastern Asia, and sometimes used for lawns in subtropical regions. Also zoysia grass.
- 1965
Zoysia, a turf-forming grass from the Mascarene Islands has proved excellent for lawns in Hawaii.
M. C. Neal, In Gardens of Hawaii 67 - 1968
Southern lawns and other turfs are mainly..zoysia grasses.
F. W. Gould, Grass Systematics i. 6 - 1969
It was fronted by a rectangle of zoysia grass.
‘J. Morris’, Fever Grass viii. 69 - 1974
For bermuda or zoysia type lawns, [cut] one-half to three-quarters of an inch.
Marlboro Herald-Advocate (Bennettsville, South Carolina) 18 April 11/2 - 1982
Zoysia lawns along curving and curbed streets.
Birmingham (Alabama) Post-Herald 22 June a3/1
the world plants particular plants plants and herbs a grass or grasses non-British grasses [nouns] Asian grasses- cogon1839–More fully cogon grass. A tall perennial rhizomatous grass, Imperata cylindrica, native to southwest Asia and found worldwide as an invasive weed.
- barnyard grass1843–Any of several grasses of the genus Echinochloa; spec. the cockspur grass E. crus-galli, which is native to tropical Asia and now widely…
- mand1862An Indian food grain; = ragi, n.
- illuk1864–The name used in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) for a coarse grass, Imperata cylindrica; = lalang, n.
- spear-grass1864–One or other of several Asiatic grasses or plants.
- zoysia1965–A perennial grass of the genus of this name, native to eastern Asia, and sometimes used for lawns in subtropical regions. Also zoysia grass.
the world plants particular plants plants and herbs a grass or grasses non-British grasses [adjectives] of particular type- rooigras1875–Any of several grasses or grass-like plants having a reddish colouring; esp. the southern African grass Themeda triandra, which turns a reddish…
- Paspalum1906–A large genus of tropical and subtropical (esp. South American) grasses which have unilateral racemes bearing adpressed spikelets and which…
- kunai1933–A large coarse grass, Imperata cylindrica, found in tropical Asia, Australia, and the Pacific region; also called blady grass (blady, adj.) and lalang…
- zoysia1965–A perennial grass of the genus of this name, native to eastern Asia, and sometimes used for lawns in subtropical regions. Also zoysia grass.
Pronunciation
British 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.
Frequency
zoysia typically occurs about 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zoysia 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 zoysia, 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 | 0.016 |
| 1970 | 0.015 |
| 1980 | 0.014 |
| 1990 | 0.014 |
| 2000 | 0.015 |
| 2010 | 0.013 |
Frequency of zoysia, 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 | 0.003 |
| 2018 | 0.0022 |
| 2019 | 0.0018 |
| 2020 | 0.0026 |
| 2021 | 0.0033 |
| 2022 | 0.0038 |
| 2023 | 0.0048 |
| 2024 | 0.0064 |