zona radiata, n.

zona-radiata
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zona-radiata_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# zona radiatanoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zona radiata mean?

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

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1880 | 0.042
1890 | 0.037
1900 | 0.033
1910 | 0.029
1920 | 0.019
1930 | 0.016
1940 | 0.013
1950 | 0.011
1960 | 0.0093
1970 | 0.0079
1980 | 0.0078
1990 | 0.0078
2000 | 0.0066
2010 | 0.0062

### Where does the noun zona radiata come from?

Earliest known use

1880s

The earliest known use of the noun zona radiata is in the 1880s.

OED's earliest evidence for zona radiata is from 1881, in the writing of F. M. Balfour, comparative embryologist and morphologist.

### Nearby entries

1. zom-com, n. 2004–
2. zomotherapeutic, adj. 1900–
3. zomotherapy, n. 1900–
4. zona, n. 1706–
5. zona ignea, n. 1818–
6. zonal, adj. 1867–
7. zonality, n. 1909–
8. zonally, adv. 1873–
9. zonal marking, n. 1958–
10. zona pellucida, n. 1841–
11. zona radiata, n.1881–
12. zona reticularis, n. 1874–
13. zonarious, adj. 1656–
14. zonary, adj. 1881–
15. zonate, adj. 1866–
16. zonated, adj. 1803–
17. zonation, n. 1898–
18. zone, n. a1500–
19. zone, v. 1792–
20. zone centre | zone center, n. 1934–
21. zoned, adj. 1662–

## Meaning & use

1. 1881–
   A radially striated form of the zona pellucida surrounding the ova of certain vertebrates as seen in the light microscope.
   1. 1881

      > The ovum [of Teleosei] when laid is usually invested in the zona radiata only.

      F. M. Balfour, Treatise on Comparative Embryology vol. II. iv. 55
   2. 1925

      > The zona radiata of the vertebrate ovum, conspicuously shown in the fishes, is a thick and often double membrane traversed by fine radial canals.

      E. B. Wilson, Cell (ed. 3) iv. 272
   3. 1964

      > The ovum [of Salmo trutta, the brown trout] is covered by a thick membrane, the zona radiata.

      T. J. Parker & W. A. Haswell, Text-book of Zoology (ed. 7) vol. II. 319
   physiology
   1. zona pellucida 1841–
      The transparent membrane forming the cell-wall of the ovum in Mammalia.
   2. zona radiata 1881–
      A radially striated form of the zona pellucida surrounding the ova of certain vertebrates as seen in the light microscope.
   3. pellucid zone 1890–
      = zona pellucida, n.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

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

zona radiata 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 zona radiata, n., 1880–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1880 | 0.042
1890 | 0.037
1900 | 0.033
1910 | 0.029
1920 | 0.019
1930 | 0.016
1940 | 0.013
1950 | 0.011
1960 | 0.0093
1970 | 0.0079
1980 | 0.0078
1990 | 0.0078
2000 | 0.0066
2010 | 0.0062

Originally published as part of the entry for zona, n.

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