zoogene, n.

zoogene
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoogene_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2017

# † zoogenenoun

## Earlier version

- zoogen in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zoogene mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zoogene. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

This word is now obsolete. It is last recorded around the 1860s.

### Where does the noun zoogene come from?

Earliest known use

1820s

The earliest known use of the noun zoogene is in the 1820s.

OED's earliest evidence for zoogene is from 1820, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine.

zoogene is a borrowing from Italian.

Etymons: Italian zoogene.

### Nearby entries

1. Zoodikers, int. 1749–98
2. zoodynamic, adj.?1819–
3. zoodynamics, n. 1888–
4. zooecial, adj. 1873–
5. zooecium, n. 1871–
6. zooerythrin, n. 1871–
7. zooflagellate, n. & adj. 1911–
8. zooful, n. 1914–
9. zoofulvin, n. 1871–
10. zoogamete, n. 1879–
11. zoogene, n.1820–69
12. zoogenic, adj. 1842–
13. zoogeny, n. 1826–
14. zoogeographer, n. 1868–
15. zoogeographic, adj. 1875–
16. zoogeographical, adj. 1864–
17. zoogeographically, adv. 1883–
18. zoogeography, n. 1851–
19. zoogeological, adj. 1841–
20. zoogeologist, n. 1844–
21. zoogeology, n. 1838–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Italian.
Etymon: Italian zoogene.
< Italian zoogene (C. di Gimbernat 1819, in Giornale di fisica, chimica, storia naturale ed arti vol. 9 179) < zoo- zoo- comb. form + ‑gene ‑gen comb. form…
< Italian zoogene (C. di Gimbernat 1819, in Giornale di fisica, chimica, storia naturale ed arti vol. 9 179) < zoo- zoo- comb. form + ‑gene ‑gen comb. form.

### Notes

New English Dictionary (OED first edition) (1921) enters this under the headword zoogen and gives the pronunciation as (zōu·ŏdʒen) /ˈzəʊədʒɛn/ .

## Meaning & use

Chemistry. Obsolete.

1. 1820–69
   A nitrogenous substance obtained as a slimy residue from the water of mineral springs. Cf. barégin n., glairin n.
   1. 1820

      > Mineral Animal Matter—Zoogene.—Sig. Carlo di Gimbernat has discovered a peculiar substance in the thermal waters of Baden and of Ischia.

      Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine March 710
   2. 1833

      > Baregine... It is termed ‘Zoogen’ by Gimbernat.

      Medico-chirurg. Rev., & Journal Pract. Medicine vol. 19 31
   3. 1869

      > Other nitrogenous substances are found—the so-called Glairine or the Zoogene.

      E. A. Parkes, Manual of Practical Hygiene (ed. 3) 20
   chemistry minerals
   1. zoogene 1820–69
      A nitrogenous substance obtained as a slimy residue from the water of mineral springs. Cf. barégin, n., glairin, n.
   2. glairin 1838–
      (See quots. and cf. barégin, n.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Forms

### Variant forms

1. 1800s
   zoogen, zoogene

zoogene, n. was revised in June 2017.

zoogene, n. was last modified in December 2024.