zoocarp, n.

zoocarp
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoocarp_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2017

# † zoocarpnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zoocarp mean?

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

This word is now obsolete. It is last recorded around the 1880s.

### Where does the noun zoocarp come from?

Earliest known use

1820s

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

OED's earliest evidence for zoocarp is from 1824, in Monthly Review.

### Nearby entries

1. zonular, adj. 1835–
2. zonule, n. 1828–
3. zonulet, n. 1648
4. zonure, n. 1883–
5. zoo, n. 1835–
6. zoo-, comb. form
7. zooarchaeological, adj. 1962–
8. zooarchaeologist, n. 1957–
9. zooarchaeology, n. 1967–
10. zoobenthos, n. 1923–
11. zoocarp, n.1824–88
12. zoocaulon, n. 1881–
13. zoocentric, adj. 1882–
14. zoochemical, adj. & n. 1844–
15. zoochemistry, n. 1835–
16. zoochlorella, n. 1882–
17. zoochore, n. 1904–
18. zoochorous, adj. 1904–
19. zoochory, n. 1921–
20. zoo-crazy, adj. 1938–
21. zoocultural, adj. 1899–

## Etymology

< zoo- comb. form + ancient Greek καρπός fruit (see carpo- comb. form2), after French zoocarpe (1823 or earlier).

## Meaning & use

Obsolete.

1. 1824–88
   A motile spore or single-celled organism, esp. a zoospore.
   1. 1824

      > We find..a very abbreviated notice of Zoocarps, or animated germs of certain non-descript Algæ,..on such a curious and mysterious subject, we could have welcomed a little more specialty.

      Monthly Review vol. 105 App. 495
   2. 1843

      > Zoocarpes, the name given to certain organized bodies which have been variously classed..as animals or plants... It is in the lower forms [of Algæ] more particularly that the Zoocarps occur.

      Penny Cyclopaedia vol. XXVII. 804
   3. 1888

      > Zoocarp, a zoospore.

      Cassell's Encyclopædic Dictionary vol. VII. ii. 632/3
   plants physiology
   1. zoocarp 1824–88
      A motile spore or single-celled organism, esp. a zoospore.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. sporule 1819–
      A spore or spore-granule. In Botany.
   2. zoocarp 1824–88
      A motile spore or single-celled organism, esp. a zoospore.
   3. zoospore 1842–
      A motile flagellate spore, as produced by certain algae, fungi, and protozoans. Cf. zoosperm, n. 2.
   4. propagule 1858–
      A portion of a plant, fungus, etc., that is capable, when detached, of giving rise to a new individual by asexual or sexual reproduction (e.g. a leaf…
   5. swarm-spore 1859–
   6. winter bud 1869–
      Botany. A detachable bud-like organ, typically produced by certain aquatic plants, which functions as a vegetative propagule. Cf. turion, n.…
   7. macrozoospore 1875–
   8. zygozoospore 1881–
      A zoospore formed by conjugation; a motile zygospore.
   9. swarm-cell 1882–
      = swarm-spore, n. (a).
   10. sporangiospore 1889–
       A spore produced in a sporangium.
   11. planospore 1904–
       A motile spore, a zoospore.
   12. planont 1914–
       A motile spore, gamete, or zygote; esp. the motile stage of certain microsporidian protozoans or phycomycetes.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

Originally published as part of the entry for zoo-, comb. form

zoo-, comb. form was revised in June 2017.