zoobenthosnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zoobenthos mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zoobenthos. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zoobenthos?
| 1930 | 0.0026 |
| 1940 | 0.0063 |
| 1950 | 0.012 |
| 1960 | 0.014 |
| 1970 | 0.018 |
| 1980 | 0.022 |
| 1990 | 0.025 |
| 2000 | 0.029 |
| 2010 | 0.03 |
How is the noun zoobenthos pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zoobenthos come from?
Earliest known use
1920s
The earliest known use of the noun zoobenthos is in the 1920s.
OED's earliest evidence for zoobenthos is from 1923, in the Glasgow Herald.
Nearby entries
- zonoplacental, adj.1879–
- zonular, adj.1835–
- zonule, n.1828–
- zonulet, n.1648
- zonure, n.1883–
- zoo, n.1835–
- zoo-, comb. form
- zooarchaeological, adj.1962–
- zooarchaeologist, n.1957–
- zooarchaeology, n.1967–
- zoobenthos, n.1923–
- zoocarp, n.1824–88
- zoocaulon, n.1881–
- zoocentric, adj.1882–
- zoochemical, adj. & n.1844–
- zoochemistry, n.1835–
- zoochlorella, n.1882–
- zoochore, n.1904–
- zoochorous, adj.1904–
- zoochory, n.1921–
- zoo-crazy, adj.1938–
Etymology
Meaning & use
- 1923–The aquatic fauna of the region at or near the bottom of the sea; the animal component of the benthic community.
- 1923
[Mr James Chumley] continued his discussion of the animals of the ocean and dealt with the bottom-living fauna, or zoobenthos.
Glasgow Herald 19 March 6 - 1964
Other organisms listed include zooplankton, phytobenthos, zoobenthos, and fishes.
Oceanography & Marine Biology vol. 2 127 (caption) - 2015
The zoobenthos is often differentiated on the basis of feeding types.
R. Darnell, American Sea x. 158
- colonist1839–Biology. A (species of) plant, animal, or other organism that spreads, or has spread, into a new area, esp. one which is among the first to become…
- benthos1891–Haeckel's name for the flora and fauna at or near the bottom of the sea. So abyssal benthos, plants and animals of the deep sea; littoral benthos…
- land form1897–A kind (of living organism) found on land.
- heterotroph1900–Any organism which requires an external supply of energy contained in complex organic compounds to maintain its existence.
- autotroph1901–An autotrophic organism (see autotrophic, adj. 1). Also as adj.
- epibenthos1902–The flora and fauna living at or near the bottom of any body of water, spec. on the surface of the bottom.
- specialist1902–Ecology. A species which is closely adapted to certain environmental conditions or a particular ecological niche.
- microaerophile1903–A microorganism that requires less oxygen than that of the atmosphere for optimal growth.
- nitrifier1903–An organism which produces nitrites or nitrates; a soil containing such organisms.
- consumer1904–Ecology. An organism that derives the organic compounds it needs from the consumption of other organisms; a heterotroph. Contrast producer, n. II.6.
- nitrogen fixer1904–An organism which brings about nitrogen fixation.
- producer1904–Ecology. An organism that produces organic compounds from simple substances such as water, carbon dioxide, or nitrogen; an autotroph. Frequently…
- indicator1906–Ecology. A group of plants or animals whose presence acts as a sign of particular environmental conditions. Also attributive.
- psychrophile1906–A psychrophilic organism.
- thermophil1909–A thermophil organism.
- zoobenthos1923–The aquatic fauna of the region at or near the bottom of the sea; the animal component of the benthic community.
- sulfuretum1925–An ecological community of organisms, mainly consisting of sulfur bacteria, which metabolizes sulfur compounds in a closed subcycle of the larger…
- influent1926–Ecology. An organism which affects the ecological balance of a plant or animal community.
- halobiont1928–An organism that lives in a saline habitat.
- halophile1928–Ecology. An organism which grows in or can tolerate saline conditions.
- mesophile1928–A mesophilic organism.
- oligosaprobe1931–An oligosaprobic organism.
- saprobe1932–Any organism that derives its nourishment from decaying organic matter.
- eurytope1938–A eurytopic organism.
- stenotope1938–A stenotopic organism.
- photoautotroph1939–An autotrophic organism which uses light as an energy source.
- chemoautotroph1943–A chemoautotrophic organism.
- prototroph1946–A prototrophic microorganism (see prototrophic, adj. 2).
- mixotrophy1948–Mixotrophic nutrition; the state or condition of being mixotrophic.
- chemolithoautotroph1949–A chemolithoautotrophic organism.
- auxotroph1950–A mutant bacterium, fungus, etc., which has an additional nutritional requirement compared with the original strain; a naturally occurring…
- chemoheterotroph1951–A chemoheterotrophic organism.
- chemoorganotroph1953–A chemoorganotrophic organism.
- chemolithotroph1955–A chemolithotrophic organism.
- chemotroph1958–A chemotrophic organism.
- osmophile1961–An osmophilic microorganism. Cf. osmophilic, adj.¹
- psychrotroph1963–A psychrotrophic organism.
- saprotroph1963–An organism that feeds on or derives nourishment from decaying organic matter; = saprobe, n.
- generalist1964–Ecology. A species (esp. an animal) that can tolerate a wide variety of food sources, habitats, or climates. Contrasted with specialist, n. A.4.
- opportunist1967–Ecology. An opportunistic species (cf. opportunistic, adj. 2).
- cryophile1970–A cryophilic organism. Also in extended or humorous use: a person or organism that prefers a colder climate or environment.
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
zoobenthos typically occurs about 0.02 times per million words in modern written English.
zoobenthos 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 zoobenthos, n., 1930–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1930 | 0.0026 |
| 1940 | 0.0063 |
| 1950 | 0.012 |
| 1960 | 0.014 |
| 1970 | 0.018 |
| 1980 | 0.022 |
| 1990 | 0.025 |
| 2000 | 0.029 |
| 2010 | 0.03 |