Zeuglodonnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun Zeuglodon mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun Zeuglodon. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun Zeuglodon?
| 1830 | 0.035 |
| 1840 | 0.042 |
| 1850 | 0.041 |
| 1860 | 0.042 |
| 1870 | 0.048 |
| 1880 | 0.046 |
| 1890 | 0.049 |
| 1900 | 0.045 |
| 1910 | 0.036 |
| 1920 | 0.032 |
| 1930 | 0.026 |
| 1940 | 0.021 |
| 1950 | 0.016 |
| 1960 | 0.0082 |
| 1970 | 0.0064 |
| 1980 | 0.005 |
| 1990 | 0.0047 |
| 2000 | 0.0042 |
| 2010 | 0.0039 |
How is the noun Zeuglodon pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun Zeuglodon come from?
Earliest known use
1830s
The earliest known use of the noun Zeuglodon is in the 1830s.
OED's earliest evidence for Zeuglodon is from 1839, in Proceedings of Geological Society.
Zeuglodon is a borrowing from Latin.
Etymons: Latin Zeuglodon.
Nearby entries
- zeta potential, n.1927–
- zetetic, adj. & n.1645–
- zetetical, adj. & n.1646–
- zetetically, adv.1665–
- Zetetical Society, n.1881–
- zetetics, n.1843–
- Zetland, n.1577–
- Zetlander, n.1614–
- Zetlandic, adj.1701–
- zetta-, comb. form
- Zeuglodon, n.1839–
- zeuglodont, n. & adj.1850–
- zeuglodontoid, adj. & n.1891
- zeugma, n.c1450–
- zeugmatic, adj.1851–
- zeugmatical, adj.1610–
- zeugmatically, adv.1616–
- zeugmatogram, n.1973–
- zeugmatographic, adj.1973–
- zeugmatography, n.1973–
- zeunerite, n.1873–
Etymology
Summary
Notes
Meaning & use
- 1839–A former name for a genus of extinct Eocene cetaceans, now again known by the original name of Basilosaurus; (also) an animal of this genus.See note at Basilosaurus n. The name Zeuglodon is now rarely used in technical publications.
- 1839
Mr. Owen..proposes to substitute for the name of Basilosaurus that of Zeuglodon.
Proceedings of Geological Society vol. 3 28 - 1842
The microscopic characters of the texture of the teeth of the Zeuglodon are strictly of a mammiferous character.
R. Owen in Transactions Geol. Society vol. 6 75 - 1883
The earliest Cetaceans of whose organization we have anything like complete evidence are the Zeuglodons of the Eocene period.
Encyclopædia Britannica vol. XV. 393/2 - 1943
There the boy saw the mounted skeleton of an Eocene sea monster, the Zeuglodon.
Science Monthly February 114/1 - 2012
Zeuglodons were air-breathing mammals that would not be able to survive when the lake freezes over.
R. E. Bartholomew, Untold Story Champ 167
- Basilosaurus1834–A genus of extinct marine cetaceans of the family Basilosauridae, known from Mid to Late Eocene fossil remains in North America and North Africa…
- Zeuglodon1839–A former name for a genus of extinct Eocene cetaceans, now again known by the original name of Basilosaurus; (also) an animal of this genus.
- zeuglodont1850–An extinct cetacean of, or related to, the former genus Zeuglodon.
- Squalodon1872–A genus of fossil cetaceans found in Miocene and early Pliocene formations; a cetacean belonging to this genus.
- squalodont1889–
- zeuglodontoid1891= zeuglodont, n.
- walking whale1981–Any of various extinct animals thought to form an intermediate between terrestrial mammals and modern whales, with the ability to walk; (now) esp. Amb…
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
Zeuglodon typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
Zeuglodon 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 Zeuglodon, n., 1830–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1830 | 0.035 |
| 1840 | 0.042 |
| 1850 | 0.041 |
| 1860 | 0.042 |
| 1870 | 0.048 |
| 1880 | 0.046 |
| 1890 | 0.049 |
| 1900 | 0.045 |
| 1910 | 0.036 |
| 1920 | 0.032 |
| 1930 | 0.026 |
| 1940 | 0.021 |
| 1950 | 0.016 |
| 1960 | 0.0082 |
| 1970 | 0.0064 |
| 1980 | 0.005 |
| 1990 | 0.0047 |
| 2000 | 0.0042 |
| 2010 | 0.0039 |