zalambdodont, adj.

zalambdodont
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zalambdodont_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# zalambdodontadjective

## Earlier version

- zalambdodont, a. in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the adjective zalambdodont mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective zalambdodont. 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 common is the adjective zalambdodont?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1880 | 0.0004
1890 | 0.0015
1900 | 0.0019
1910 | 0.0017
1920 | 0.0017
1930 | 0.0019
1940 | 0.002
1950 | 0.002
1960 | 0.0012
1970 | 0.0008
1980 | 0.0009
1990 | 0.001
2000 | 0.0008
2010 | 0.0008

### How is the adjective zalambdodont pronounced?

#### British English

/zəˈlamdədɒnt/

### Where does the adjective zalambdodont come from?

Earliest known use

1880s

The earliest known use of the adjective zalambdodont is in the 1880s.

OED's only evidence for zalambdodont is from 1885, in Riverside Natural History.

zalambdodont is a borrowing from Greek.

Etymons: Greek ζα-, λάμβδα, ὀδούς.

### Nearby entries

1. zaikai, n. 1968–
2. zaim, n. 1807–
3. zaire, n. 1967–
4. Zairean, n. & adj. 1972–
5. Zairese, adj. & n. 1974–
6. Zairois, n. & adj. 1973–
7. zaitech, n. 1986–
8. zakat, n. 1668–
9. Zakka Khel, n. 1860–
10. zakuska, n. 1885–
11. zalambdodont, adj.1885–
12. zalcitabine, n. 1991–
13. zamacueca, n. 1855–
14. Zamak, n. 1926–
15. zamang, n. 1819–
16. zamarra, n. 1841–
17. zama zama, n. 2006–
18. Zamazim, n. a1400–
19. Zambian, adj. & n. 1959–
20. Zambianization, n. 1964–
21. Zambianize, v. 1964–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Greek.
Etymons: Greek ζα-, λάμβδα, ὀδούς.
< Greek ζα-, intensive prefix + λάμβδα the letter lambda, Λ + ὀδούς, ὀδοντ- tooth.

## Meaning & use

Zoology.

1. 1885–
   Belonging to the division Zalambdodonta of insectivorous mammals, characterized by short molar teeth with a single Λ- or V-shaped ridge: opposed to dilambdodont adj.
   1. 1885

      > The zalambdodont dentition.

      Riverside Natural History (1888) vol. V. 136
   animals
   1. zalambdodont 1885–
      Belonging to the division Zalambdodonta of insectivorous mammals, characterized by short molar teeth with a single Λ- or V-shaped ridge: opposed to di…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zəˈlamdədɒnt/

####

##### 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.

## Frequency

zalambdodont typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zalambdodont is in frequency band 1, which contains words occurring fewer than 0.001 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zalambdodont, adj., 1880–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1880 | 0.0004
1890 | 0.0015
1900 | 0.0019
1910 | 0.0017
1920 | 0.0017
1930 | 0.0019
1940 | 0.002
1950 | 0.002
1960 | 0.0012
1970 | 0.0008
1980 | 0.0009
1990 | 0.001
2000 | 0.0008
2010 | 0.0008

zalambdodont, adj. was first published in 1921; not fully revised.

zalambdodont, adj. was last modified in December 2024.