zygomere, n.

zygomere
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zygomere_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1986; not fully revised

# zygomerenoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zygomere mean?

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

#### British English

/ˈzʌɪɡəmɪə/
ZIGH-guh-meer
/ˈzɪɡəmɪə/
ZIG-uh-meer

#### U.S. English

/ˈzaɪɡəˌmɪ(ə)r/
ZIGH-guh-meer
/ˈzɪɡəˌmɪ(ə)r/
ZIG-uh-meer

### Where does the noun zygomere come from?

Earliest known use

1960s

The earliest known use of the noun zygomere is in the 1960s.

OED's earliest evidence for zygomere is from 1966, in the writing of J. Sybenga.

### Nearby entries

1. zygodactyl, adj. & n. 1831–
2. zygodactylic, adj. 1835–
3. zygodactylous, adj. 1828–
4. zygodont, adj. 1888–
5. zygogenesis, n. 1950–
6. zygology, n. 1970–
7. zygoma, n. 1684–
8. zygomatic, adj. & n. 1712–
9. zygomatico-, comb. form
10. zygomato-, comb. form
11. zygomere, n.1966–
12. zygomorphic, adj. 1875–
13. zygomorphism, n. 1875–
14. zygomorphous, adj. 1879–
15. Zygomycetes, n. 1887–
16. zygomycetous, adj. 1928–
17. zygon, n. 1886–
18. zygonema, n. 1911–
19. zygoneurous, adj. 1901–
20. zygophiuran, adj. & n. 1892–
21. zygophore, n. 1904–

## Etymology

‑mere comb. form.

## Meaning & use

Cytology.

1. 1966–
   A site on a chromosome thought to be responsible for the initiation of pairing between homologous chromosomes during zygotene in eukaryotes.
   1. 1966

      > General occurrence of localization of the function of initiation of chromosome pairing (long-distance attraction) in discrete units on specific loci is considered a useful working hypothesis. In analogy to ‘centromere’, ‘chromomere’ and ‘telomere’ the term ‘zygomere’ is proposed for such units.

      J. Sybenga in Genetica vol. XXXVII. 188
   2. 1981

      > Since the bivalent formation has not been disturbed, at least one of two zygomeres seems to be able to have a complete activity.

      Cytologia vol. XLVI. 527
   cell biology genetics
   1. locus 1913–
      Genetics. A site or position on a chromosome at which a particular gene is located; a location within an individual gene, or within non-coding DNA…
   2. zygomere 1966–
      A site on a chromosome thought to be responsible for the initiation of pairing between homologous chromosomes during zygotene in eukaryotes.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzʌɪɡəmɪə/
ZIGH-guh-meer
/ˈzɪɡəmɪə/
ZIG-uh-meer

### U.S. English

/ˈzaɪɡəˌmɪ(ə)r/
ZIGH-guh-meer
/ˈzɪɡəˌmɪ(ə)r/
ZIG-uh-meer

####

##### 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.

####

##### 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 /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### 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

Originally published as part of the entry for zygo-, comb. form

zygo-, comb. form was first published in 1921; not fully revised.