zoochorousadjective
Factsheet
What does the adjective zoochorous mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective zoochorous. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the adjective zoochorous?
| 1900 | 0.0013 |
| 1910 | 0.0013 |
| 1920 | 0.0012 |
| 1930 | 0.0011 |
| 1940 | 0.0012 |
| 1950 | 0.0023 |
| 1960 | 0.0024 |
| 1970 | 0.0021 |
| 1980 | 0.0021 |
| 1990 | 0.0024 |
| 2000 | 0.0027 |
| 2010 | 0.0032 |
How is the adjective zoochorous pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the adjective zoochorous come from?
Earliest known use
1900s
The earliest known use of the adjective zoochorous is in the 1900s.
OED's earliest evidence for zoochorous is from 1904, in the writing of Frederic Edward Clements.
zoochorous is formed within English, by derivation; perhaps modelled on a German lexical item.
Etymons: zoochore n., ‑ous suffix.
Nearby entries
- 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–
- zoocultural, adj.1899–
- zooculture, n.1873–
- zoocytium, n.1880–
- zoodendrium, n.1880–
- Zoodikers, int.1749–98
- zoodynamic, adj.?1819–
- zoodynamics, n.1888–
- zooecial, adj.1873–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1904–Of a plant: having seeds, spores, etc., dispersed by animals. Also: designating this mode of dispersal.
- 1904
Species..that are found in the shelter of forests and thickets are usually zoochorous.
F. E. Clements in Bot. Surv. Nebraska No. 7. 48 - 1975
The adaptations of zoochorous plants that make them attractive to birds delight landscapers.
Auk vol. 92 40 - 1999
Only 14% of the species in the Central Lower Karoo are zoochorous.
K. Van Rheede van Oudtshoorn & M. W. van Rooyen, Dispersal Biol. Desert Plants ix. 171 - 2014
Zoochorous dispersal usually occurs during the rainy season.
A. Traveset et al. in R. S. Gallagher, Seeds (ed. 3) iii. 67/2
the world plants part of plant reproductive part(s) seed plant having seed [adjectives] of or characterized by dispersal of seeds- zoophilous1881–Ecology. Of a plant or flower: pollinated by animals. In later use also (of a fruit or seed): dispersed by animals. Also: of, relating to, or of…
- zoochorous1904–Of a plant: having seeds, spores, etc., dispersed by animals. Also: designating this mode of dispersal.
- hydrochorous1905–See hydrochore, n.
- myrmecochorous1908–Of a seed or fruit: dispersed by ants. Of a plant: producing seeds or fruits of this kind.
- hydrochoric1940–See hydrochore, n.
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
zoochorous typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zoochorous 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 of zoochorous, adj., 1900–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1900 | 0.0013 |
| 1910 | 0.0013 |
| 1920 | 0.0012 |
| 1930 | 0.0011 |
| 1940 | 0.0012 |
| 1950 | 0.0023 |
| 1960 | 0.0024 |
| 1970 | 0.0021 |
| 1980 | 0.0021 |
| 1990 | 0.0024 |
| 2000 | 0.0027 |
| 2010 | 0.0032 |
Compounds & derived words
- zoochory, n. 1921–The dispersal of plant seeds, spores, etc., by animals.