zygaenanoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zygaena mean?
There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun zygaena. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, 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 zygaena?
| 1760 | 0.0013 |
| 1770 | 0.001 |
| 1780 | 0.0009 |
| 1790 | 0.0013 |
| 1800 | 0.0005 |
| 1810 | 0.0007 |
| 1820 | 0.0008 |
| 1830 | 0.0019 |
| 1840 | 0.0027 |
| 1850 | 0.0026 |
| 1860 | 0.0024 |
| 1870 | 0.0025 |
| 1880 | 0.0026 |
| 1890 | 0.0028 |
| 1900 | 0.0023 |
| 1910 | 0.0021 |
| 1920 | 0.0027 |
| 1930 | 0.0032 |
| 1940 | 0.0038 |
| 1950 | 0.0041 |
| 1960 | 0.0043 |
| 1970 | 0.0041 |
| 1980 | 0.0039 |
| 1990 | 0.0038 |
| 2000 | 0.0036 |
| 2010 | 0.0031 |
How is the noun zygaena pronounced?
British English
Where does the noun zygaena come from?
Earliest known use
early 1700s
The earliest known use of the noun zygaena is in the early 1700s.
OED's earliest evidence for zygaena is from 1717, in the writing of Thomas Robinson, natural philosopher.
zygaena is a borrowing from Latin.
Nearby entries
- zwieback, n.1894–
- zwieselite, n.1861–
- Zwinglian, n. & adj.1532–
- Zwinglianism, n.1581–
- Zwinglianist, n.1673–1759
- zwischenzug, n.1941–
- zwitterion, n.1906–
- zwitterionic, adj.1946–
- Zydeco, n.1949–
- zygadite, n.1861–
- zygaena, n.1717–
- zygaenid, n. & adj.1913–
- zygaenidan, n.1837–
- zygal, adj.1886–
- zygantrum, n.1854–
- zygapophysial, adj.1870–
- zygapophysis, n.1854–
- zygite, n.1888–
- zygnemaceous, adj.
- zygnemid, n.1887–
- zygnomic, adj.1926–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- a.1717–Ichthyology. A fish of the genus formerly so named (now Sphyrna), comprising the hammerheaded sharks.
- 1717
The Zygæna or Ballance Fish, as large as the Saw Fish.
T. Robinson in Philosophical Transactions 1714–16 (Royal Society) vol. 29 479 - 1774
The Dog Fish,..the Zygæna, the Tope, the Cat Fish.
O. Goldsmith, History of Earth vol. VI. 236
the world animals fish subclass Elasmobranchii order Pleurotremata [nouns] member of family Sphyrnidae (hammer-head)- balance-fish1717–The hammer-headed shark (Squalus zygæna).
- zygaena1717–Ichthyology. A fish of the genus formerly so named (now Sphyrna), comprising the hammerheaded sharks.
- slipper1796–The hammerhead shark.
- hammer-head1861–A hammer-headed shark; so called from the great lateral expansions of the head.
- bonnethead1879–(More fully bonnethead shark) a small hammerhead shark, Sphyrna tiburo, found mainly in the western Atlantic and having a relatively narrow, rounded…
- b.Entomology. A genus of moths (also called Anthrocera), comprising the burnet-moths.
Pronunciation
British 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.
Forms
Variant forms
Also Zygæna.Frequency
zygaena typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zygaena 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 zygaena, n., 1760–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1760 | 0.0013 |
| 1770 | 0.001 |
| 1780 | 0.0009 |
| 1790 | 0.0013 |
| 1800 | 0.0005 |
| 1810 | 0.0007 |
| 1820 | 0.0008 |
| 1830 | 0.0019 |
| 1840 | 0.0027 |
| 1850 | 0.0026 |
| 1860 | 0.0024 |
| 1870 | 0.0025 |
| 1880 | 0.0026 |
| 1890 | 0.0028 |
| 1900 | 0.0023 |
| 1910 | 0.0021 |
| 1920 | 0.0027 |
| 1930 | 0.0032 |
| 1940 | 0.0038 |
| 1950 | 0.0041 |
| 1960 | 0.0043 |
| 1970 | 0.0041 |
| 1980 | 0.0039 |
| 1990 | 0.0038 |
| 2000 | 0.0036 |
| 2010 | 0.0031 |
Compounds & derived words
- zygaenidan, n. 1837–= zygaenid, n.
- zygaenid, n. & adj. 1913–a. n. A member of the family Zygænidæ, typified…