zoea, n.

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

# zoeanoun

## Earlier version

- zoea in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zoea mean?

There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun zoea. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, 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 noun zoea?

About 0.04occurrences per million words in modern written English

1820 | 0.0003
1830 | 0.0015
1840 | 0.0056
1850 | 0.0086
1860 | 0.011
1870 | 0.017
1880 | 0.02
1890 | 0.023
1900 | 0.026
1910 | 0.024
1920 | 0.025
1930 | 0.028
1940 | 0.031
1950 | 0.039
1960 | 0.039
1970 | 0.039
1980 | 0.04
1990 | 0.04
2000 | 0.04
2010 | 0.036

### How is the noun zoea pronounced?

#### British English

/zəʊˈiːə/

### Where does the noun zoea come from?

Earliest known use

1820s

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

OED's earliest evidence for zoea is from 1828, in the writing of John Vaughan Thompson, surgeon and naturalist.

zoea is a borrowing from Latin.

Etymons: Latin zoea.

### Nearby entries

1. zob, n. 1911–
2. zocalo, n. 1884–
3. zocco, n. 1664–1723
4. zocle, n. 1704–
5. zoco, n. 1892–
6. zodiac, n. 1390–
7. zodiacal, adj. 1576–
8. zodiac line, n. 1590
9. zodiac ring, n. 1895–
10. zodiographer, n. 1650
11. zoea, n.1828–
12. zoeal, adj.?1870–
13. zoetrope, n. 1866–
14. zographer, n. 1570
15. zography, n. 1570
16. zograscope, n. 1753–
17. Zohar, n. 1682–
18. zoic, adj. 1863–
19. -zoic, comb. form¹
20. -zoic, comb. form²
21. zoid, n. 1856–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Latin.
Etymon: Latin zoea.
< modern Latin zoe, zoea (Bosc, 1802), the first form < Greek ζωή life, the second an extension of it by addition of feminine suffix ‑a suffix1 1.

## Meaning & use

Zoology.

1. 1828–
   † a. (An animal of) a supposed genus of crustaceans, founded on certain larval forms mistaken for adults. Obsolete. b. A larval stage of development in crustaceans, esp. decapods, usually characterized by one or more spines on the carapace, and rudimentary thoracic and abdominal limbs.
   1. 1828

      > The fifth or terminal joint formed as in all the genuine Zoeas, of a deep fork, the inner sides of which are furnished with three small spines.

      J. V. Thompson, Zool. Research vol. I. i. 5
   2. 1828

      > On the 1st of May of the present year, (1827,) another large Zoea was taken.

      J. V. Thompson, Zool. Research vol. I. i. 9
   3. 1828

      > The French have adopted the term Zoe for these animals, which, as more simple, and better suited to the genius of our own language than the Latin, may be used in familiar discourse without any impropriety.

      J. V. Thompson, Zool. Research vol. I. i. 11 (note)
   4. 1828

      > The Zoe or Larva of the common or edible Crab.

      J. V. Thompson, Zool. Research vol. I. i. 63
   5. 1835

      > If..these latter Zoes are to be regarded as the larvæ of Crabs, they must be considered as having acquired the maximum of their Zoe form.

      Westwood in Philosophical Transactions (Royal Society) vol. 125 324
   6. 1877

      > In most Podophthalmia the embryo leaves the egg, not as a Nauplius, but as a Zoœa, which has thoracic, but no abdominal, appendages.

      T. H. Huxley, Manual of Anatomy of Invertebrated Animals vi. 303
   7. 1888

      > In the larval form [of the crayfish] known as Zoaea, the first Zoaea-stage has no palp to the mandible.

      G. Rolleston & W. H. Jackson, Forms of Animal Life (ed. 2) 169
   invertebrates
   1. zoea 1828–
      †a. (An animal of) a supposed genus of crustaceans, founded on certain larval forms mistaken for adults. Obsolete. b. A larval stage of development…
   2. nauplius 1869–
      The free-swimming larval stage in many crustaceans, characterized by an unsegmented body with a dorsal shield, three pairs of appendages, and a…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zəʊˈiːə/

####

##### 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.

## Forms

### Variant forms

Plural zoeæ /zəʊˈiːiː/ , also in English form zoeas /zəʊˈiːəz/ . Also zoœa, zoæa. Earlier form zoe /ˈzəʊiː/ ; plural zoes /ˈzəʊiːz/ .

## Frequency

zoea typically occurs about 0.04 times per million words in modern written English.

zoea is in frequency band 3, which contains words occurring between 0.01 and 0.1 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 zoea, n., 1820–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1820 | 0.0003
1830 | 0.0015
1840 | 0.0056
1850 | 0.0086
1860 | 0.011
1870 | 0.017
1880 | 0.02
1890 | 0.023
1900 | 0.026
1910 | 0.024
1920 | 0.025
1930 | 0.028
1940 | 0.031
1950 | 0.039
1960 | 0.039
1970 | 0.039
1980 | 0.04
1990 | 0.04
2000 | 0.04
2010 | 0.036

## Compounds & derived words

Sort by

1. zoeal, adj. ?1870–
   Of a zoea.

1. 1857–
   General attributive, as zoea-form, zoea-phase, zoea-stage.
   1. 1857

      > The Zoea form [of the crab], with carapace rising into a tall erect spine, sessile eyes, no claws.

      P. H. Gosse, Omphalos viii. 217
   2. 1865

      > This Zöea-phase afterwards gives place to one which can only be called a Mysis-phase.

      Quarterly Journal of Science vol. 2 508
   3. 1888

      > In the larval form [of the crayfish] known as Zoaea, the first Zoaea-stage has no palp to the mandible.

      G. Rolleston & W. H. Jackson, Forms of Animal Life (ed. 2) 169
   animals

zoea, n. was first published in 1921; not fully revised.

zoea, n. was last modified in December 2024.