Zeuglodon, n.

zeuglodon
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zeuglodon_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# Zeuglodonnoun

## Earlier version

- Zeuglodon in OED Second Edition (1989)

## 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?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

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

/ˈz(j)uːɡlə(ʊ)dɒn/
ZYOO-gloh-don
/ˈz(j)uːɡləd(ə)n/
ZYOO-gluh-duhn

#### U.S. English

/ˈzuɡləˌdɑn/
ZOO-gluh-dahn

### 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

1. zeta potential, n. 1927–
2. zetetic, adj. & n. 1645–
3. zetetical, adj. & n. 1646–
4. zetetically, adv. 1665–
5. Zetetical Society, n. 1881–
6. zetetics, n. 1843–
7. Zetland, n. 1577–
8. Zetlander, n. 1614–
9. Zetlandic, adj. 1701–
10. zetta-, comb. form
11. Zeuglodon, n.1839–
12. zeuglodont, n. & adj. 1850–
13. zeuglodontoid, adj. & n. 1891
14. zeugma, n. c1450–
15. zeugmatic, adj. 1851–
16. zeugmatical, adj. 1610–
17. zeugmatically, adv. 1616–
18. zeugmatogram, n. 1973–
19. zeugmatographic, adj. 1973–
20. zeugmatography, n. 1973–
21. zeunerite, n. 1873–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Latin.
Etymon: Latin Zeuglodon.
< scientific Latin Zeuglodon, suggested genus name (R. Owen 1839: see quot. 1839; intended to replace Basilosaurus (c1834)) < ancient Greek ζεύγλη loop of a yoke (< ζευγνύναι to yoke (see zeugma n.) + ‑λη…
< scientific Latin Zeuglodon, suggested genus name (R. Owen 1839: see quot. 1839; intended to replace Basilosaurus (c1834)) < ancient Greek ζεύγλη loop of a yoke (< ζευγνύναι to yoke (see zeugma n.) + ‑λη, suffix forming nouns) + scientific Latin ‑odon ‑odon comb. form; so called on account of the shape of the back teeth which resemble two teeth joined together.

### Notes

Owen's paper in which he described a specimen of the genus was read in 1839 and reported in quot. 1839, but not published until 1842 (see quot. 1842).

## Meaning & use

Palaeontology.

1. 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.
   1. 1839

      > Mr. Owen..proposes to substitute for the name of Basilosaurus that of Zeuglodon.

      Proceedings of Geological Society vol. 3 28
   2. 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
   3. 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
   4. 1943

      > There the boy saw the mounted skeleton of an Eocene sea monster, the Zeuglodon.

      Science Monthly February 114/1
   5. 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
   animals palaeontology
   1. Basilosaurus 1834–
      A genus of extinct marine cetaceans of the family Basilosauridae, known from Mid to Late Eocene fossil remains in North America and North Africa…
   2. Zeuglodon 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.
   3. zeuglodont 1850–
      An extinct cetacean of, or related to, the former genus Zeuglodon.
   4. Squalodon 1872–
      A genus of fossil cetaceans found in Miocene and early Pliocene formations; a cetacean belonging to this genus.
   5. squalodont 1889–
   6. zeuglodontoid 1891
      = zeuglodont, n.
   7. walking whale 1981–
      Any of various extinct animals thought to form an intermediate between terrestrial mammals and modern whales, with the ability to walk; (now) esp. Amb…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈz(j)uːɡlə(ʊ)dɒn/
ZYOO-gloh-don
/ˈz(j)uːɡləd(ə)n/
ZYOO-gluh-duhn

### U.S. English

/ˈzuɡləˌdɑn/
ZOO-gluh-dahn

####

##### 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

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

### 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

Zeuglodon, n. was revised in June 2018.

Zeuglodon, n. was last modified in December 2023.