zoogloea, n.

zoogloea
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoogloea_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2017

# zoogloeanoun

## Earlier version

- zooglœa in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zoogloea mean?

There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun zoogloea. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the noun zoogloea?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1870 | 0.053
1880 | 0.048
1890 | 0.044
1900 | 0.04
1910 | 0.041
1920 | 0.031
1930 | 0.02
1940 | 0.014
1950 | 0.01
1960 | 0.0073
1970 | 0.0049
1980 | 0.0036
1990 | 0.0029
2000 | 0.0023
2010 | 0.0017

### How is the noun zoogloea pronounced?

#### British English

/zuː(ə)ˈɡliːə/
zoo-uh-GLEE-uh
/zəʊəˈɡliːə/
zoh-uh-GLEE-uh

#### U.S. English

/zu(ə)ˈɡliə/
zoo-uh-GLEE-uh
/zoʊəˈɡliə/
zoh-uh-GLEE-uh

### Where does the noun zoogloea come from?

Earliest known use

1860s

The earliest known use of the noun zoogloea is in the 1860s.

OED's earliest evidence for zoogloea is from 1861, in a text by Andrew Pritchard, microscopist, et al.

zoogloea is a borrowing from Latin.

Etymons: Latin Zoogloea.

### Nearby entries

1. zoogenic, adj. 1842–
2. zoogeny, n. 1826–
3. zoogeographer, n. 1868–
4. zoogeographic, adj. 1875–
5. zoogeographical, adj. 1864–
6. zoogeographically, adv. 1883–
7. zoogeography, n. 1851–
8. zoogeological, adj. 1841–
9. zoogeologist, n. 1844–
10. zoogeology, n. 1838–
11. zoogloea, n.1861–
12. zoogloeal, adj. 1879–
13. zoogloeic, adj. 1883–
14. zoogonic, adj. 1787–
15. zoogonidium, n. 1857–
16. zoogony, n. 1675–
17. zoograph, n. 1623
18. zoographer, n. 1646–
19. zoographic, adj. 1741–
20. zoographical, adj. 1651–
21. zoographically, adv. 1835–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Latin.
Etymon: Latin Zoogloea.
< scientific Latin Zoogloea, genus name (F. Cohn 1854, in Novorum actorum Acad. Caesareae Leopold.-Carolin. Nat. Curiosorum vol. 24 123) < zoo- zoo- comb. form + ancient Greek γλοιός glutinous substance (compare…
< scientific Latin Zoogloea, genus name (F. Cohn 1854, in Novorum actorum Acad. Caesareae Leopold.-Carolin. Nat. Curiosorum vol. 24 123) < zoo- zoo- comb. form + ancient Greek γλοιός glutinous substance (compare Byzantine Greek γλοία or γλοιά glue: see gloiocarp n.).

Compare mesogloea n.

## Meaning & use

Microbiology.

1. 1.
   1861–
   In form Zoogloea: a genus of Gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped bacteria (family Pseudomonadaceae), typically occurring in masses or films surrounded by gelatinoid material, and often found in water containing sewage or other organic matter; (also zoogloea) a bacterium of this genus.
   Valid publication of the genus name: H. Itzigsohn 1868, in Sitzungs-Berichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin (19 Nov. 1867) 30/2.
   1. [1855

      > He [sc. Cohn] proposes a new name for this form—Zooglœa, with these characters.

      Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science vol. 3 206]
   2. 1861

      > He [sc. Cohn] finds sufficient support from analogy to warrant him in assuming a like history for them [sc. the remaining Vibrios] as for Zooglœa.

      A. Pritchard et al., History of Infusoria (ed. 4) 187
   3. 1867

      > The spores of Zooglœa appear under a magnifying power of 300 to 480 as small points.

      Journal of Botany, Brit. & Foreign vol. 5 192
   4. 1914

      > This zoogloea [sc. Zoogloea ramigera] is perhaps the most characteristic and important organism of this zone [of a sewage filter].

      Journal Econ. Biology vol. 9 129
   5. 1988

      > Zoogloea is ubiquitous in organically enriched oxygenated waters.

      H. Stolp, Microbial Ecology iii. 80
   6. 2006

      > The characterization of some of these epibionts as species of Zoogloea is problematic.

      Biological Bulletin vol. 210 75/2
   bacteria
2. 2.
   1872–
   A mass or film of bacteria (sometimes with other microorganisms) surrounded by gelatinoid material. Frequently attributive.
   1. 1872

      > As the nitrogenous food of Bacteria is consumed they gradually cease to multiply, and pass from the movable to the quiescent condition, during which they secrete an intercellular substance, and heap this up into palmella-like masses (zooglœa).

      Harper's Magazine August 469/2
   2. 1893

      > In Phaseolus vulgaris and Pisum sativum they [sc. Rhizobia] are often collected into Zoogloeae.

      American Naturalist vol. 27 786
   3. 1901

      > Cocci [of Micrococcus cyaneus] elliptical; form zoögloea.

      F. D. Chester, Manual Determinative Bacteriol. 109
   4. 1946

      > The furthest tip of a hair is attacked, and in favourable conditions a small gelatinous mass of the bacteria develops soon thereafter. This is the zooglœa stage.

      A. Nelson, Principles of Agricultural Botany xvi. 344
   5. 2008

      > The passage of water through a filter leads to the build-up of a zoogloea.

      New Scientist 28 June 89/4
   bacteria
   1. zoogloea 1872–
      A mass or film of bacteria (sometimes with other microorganisms) surrounded by gelatinoid material. Frequently attributive.
   2. symplasm 1916–
      Bacteriology. A group of bacterial cells that have coalesced into one amorphous mass. ? Obsolete.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zuː(ə)ˈɡliːə/
zoo-uh-GLEE-uh
/zəʊəˈɡliːə/
zoh-uh-GLEE-uh

### U.S. English

/zu(ə)ˈɡliə/
zoo-uh-GLEE-uh
/zoʊəˈɡliə/
zoh-uh-GLEE-uh

####

##### 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.

####

##### 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 /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### 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

## Forms

### Inflections

Plural: unchanged, zoogloeae, zoogloeas

### Variant forms

1. 1800s
   zoögloea
2. 1800s–
   zoogloea
3. 1900s–
   zooglea

## Frequency

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

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

### Frequency of zoogloea, n., 1870–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1870 | 0.053
1880 | 0.048
1890 | 0.044
1900 | 0.04
1910 | 0.041
1920 | 0.031
1930 | 0.02
1940 | 0.014
1950 | 0.01
1960 | 0.0073
1970 | 0.0049
1980 | 0.0036
1990 | 0.0029
2000 | 0.0023
2010 | 0.0017

## Compounds & derived words

Sort by

1. zoogloeal, adj. 1879–
   Of, relating to, or of the nature of a zoogloea.

1. zoogloeic, adj. 1883–
   = zoogloeal, adj.

zoogloea, n. was revised in June 2017.

zoogloea, n. was last modified in July 2023.