Zinjanthropusnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun Zinjanthropus mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun Zinjanthropus. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun Zinjanthropus?
| 1950 | 0.091 |
| 1960 | 0.082 |
| 1970 | 0.071 |
| 1980 | 0.064 |
| 1990 | 0.074 |
| 2000 | 0.039 |
| 2010 | 0.028 |
How is the noun Zinjanthropus pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun Zinjanthropus come from?
Earliest known use
1950s
The earliest known use of the noun Zinjanthropus is in the 1950s.
OED's earliest evidence for Zinjanthropus is from 1959, in the writing of Louis Leakey, archaeologist and palaeoanthropologist.
Zinjanthropus is a borrowing from Latin.
Etymons: Latin Zinjanthropus.
Nearby entries
- zingho, n.1743
- zingiber, n.?1720–
- zingiberaceous, adj.1821–
- zingily, adv.1951–
- zinginess, n.1938–
- zinging, n.1921–
- zinging, adj.1915–
- zingingly, adv.1952–
- zingo, int.1906–
- zingy, adj.1938–
- Zinjanthropus, n.1959–
- zinke, n.1773–
- zinnia, n.1761–
- zinnober green, n.1879–
- zinnwaldite, n.1850–
- zino, n.1982–
- Zinovievite, adj. & n.1936–
- Zinoviev letter, n.1924–
- Zion, n.Old English–
- Zion Curtain, n.1951–
- Zioner, n.1681–1760
Etymology
Summary
Notes
Meaning & use
- 1959–An extinct robust hominid first known from a fossil skull found by Mary Leakey at Olduvai (now Oldupai), Tanzania, formerly known as Zinjanthropus boisei but now classified as Paranthropus (or Australopithecus) boisei. Also: the former genus Zinjanthropus itself.The original specimen was nicknamed ‘Zinj’ (cf. Nutcracker Man n.).
- 1959
Zinjanthropus gen nov... A new genus of the Hominidae.
L. S. B. Leakey in Nature 15 August 492/1 - 1962
Dr. Leakey's famous ‘nutcracker man’ Zinjanthropus (which has now been dated as having lived over 1,000,000 years ago).
Listener 5 April 589/1 - 1989
The Leakeys began to unearth many important fossils from the Rift Valley..from species named ‘Zinjanthropus’ and ‘Homo habilis’.
A. J. Jeffreys in J. R. Durant, Human Origins vi. 83 - 2007
Zinjanthropus gave the impression of a much more muscular masticatory apparatus than robust australopiths known at the time.
C. J. Cela-Conde & F. J. Ayala, Human Evolution v. 159/1
the world animals mammals order Primates suborder Anthropoidea (higher primates) [nouns] group Catarrhinae (Old World monkey) member of superfamily Hominoidea (apes and humans) family Hominidae (humans and ancestors ) member of extinct or hypothetical- missing link1820–Something lacking to complete a series or to form an intermediate between two things, esp. in an evolutionary process; (Physical Anthropology) a…
- apeman1864–Originally: a hypothetical creature intermediate in character and development between apes and humans. In later use: any of various early…
- Pithecanthropus1873–83A hypothetical creature bridging the gap in evolutionary development between apes and man. Obsolete.
- Oreopithecus1878–An extinct ape, Oreopithecus bambolii, known from numerous late Miocene fossil remains found chiefly in Italy, and dated to about eight million…
- Broken Hill1921–As a modifier. Used with reference to an extinct hominid similar to Neanderthal man, known from fossil remains found at Broken Hill, Northern…
- dryopithecine1948–A dryopithecine ape.
- Zinjanthropus1959–An extinct robust hominid first known from a fossil skull found by Mary Leakey at Olduvai (now Oldupai), Tanzania, formerly known as Zinjanthropus b…
- Orrorin2001–An extinct hominid, Orrorin tugenensis, known from late Miocene fossil remains found in the Tugen Hills of Kenya, and dated to between 6.2 and…
- Sahelanthropus2002–An extinct hominid, Sahelanthropus tchadensis, known from late Miocene fossil remains found in northern Chad, and dated to about seven million years…
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
Zinjanthropus typically occurs about 0.06 times per million words in modern written English.
Zinjanthropus 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 Zinjanthropus, n., 1950–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1950 | 0.091 |
| 1960 | 0.082 |
| 1970 | 0.071 |
| 1980 | 0.064 |
| 1990 | 0.074 |
| 2000 | 0.039 |
| 2010 | 0.028 |