zeaxanthinnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zeaxanthin mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zeaxanthin. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zeaxanthin?
| 1920 | 0.018 |
| 1930 | 0.017 |
| 1940 | 0.019 |
| 1950 | 0.019 |
| 1960 | 0.028 |
| 1970 | 0.039 |
| 1980 | 0.049 |
| 1990 | 0.054 |
| 2000 | 0.062 |
| 2010 | 0.072 |
How is the noun zeaxanthin pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zeaxanthin come from?
Earliest known use
1920s
The earliest known use of the noun zeaxanthin is in the 1920s.
OED's earliest evidence for zeaxanthin is from 1929, in Chemical Abstracts.
zeaxanthin is a borrowing from German.
Etymons: German Zeaxanthin.
Nearby entries
- zealousy, n.1542–
- zeal-pretending, adj.1652–69
- zeal-quenching, adj.1688–1877
- zeal-scoffing, adj.1605
- zeal-transported, adj.a1644–59
- zeal-worthy, adj.1797
- zea maize, n.1811–
- zearalanol, n.1966–
- zearalenone, n.1966–
- zeatin, n.1963–
- zeaxanthin, n.1929–
- Zebedist, n.1574
- zebra, n.1597–
- zebra caterpillar, n.1841–
- zebra crossing, n.1934–
- zebra danio, n.1917–
- zebraed, adj.1806–
- zebra finch, n.1868–
- zebrafish, n.1771–
- zebraic, adj.1858–
- zebra marking, n.1854–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1929–A deep yellow carotenoid pigment present in the retina of the eye and in some plants and microorganisms, used as a food additive and supplement.High levels of zeaxanthin are found in maize (from which it was first isolated) and egg yolk, as well as brightly coloured fruits such as orange and yellow peppers, melons, and oranges. It often occurs naturally with the pigment lutein, of which it is an isomer.Chemical name: β,β-carotene-3,3'-diol; C40H56O2.
- 1929
Zeaxanthin, a new carotinoid pigment in maize.
Chemical Abstracts vol. 23 4480 (heading) - 1934
Xanthophyll (lutein) appears to be structurally related to α-carotene and zeaxanthin to β-carotene.
Science 25 May 488/2 - 1997
Research shows that..lutein and zeaxanthin, two carotenoids, may stave off macular degeneration, a common cause of failing eyesight.
Fitness November 56/4 - 2009
Key nutrients to maintain healthy eyes in old age are lutein and zeaxanthin; good sources are kiwi fruit, grapes, spinach and broccoli.
Independent 13 January 17/2
- quercitrin1833–A pale yellow crystalline glycoside obtained from quercitron bark, which yields quercetin and rhamnose on hydrolysis and is used as a dye.
- anthoxanthin1836–Any of a class of yellow or white flavonoid pigments found in plants.
- xanthein1857–That part of the yellow colouring-matter of flowers which is soluble in water: cf. xanthin, n. 1b.
- xanthin1857–That part of the yellow colouring-matter of flowers which is insoluble in water: cf. xanthein, n.
- phycoxanthin1873–A yellow-brown colouring matter present in various algae, esp. in diatoms and brown algae.
- phytochrome1893–Xanthophyll; chlorophyll. rare and disused.
- zeaxanthin1929–A deep yellow carotenoid pigment present in the retina of the eye and in some plants and microorganisms, used as a food additive and supplement.
- violaxanthin1931–A xanthophyll pigment widely distributed in plant chloroplasts, where it is involved in biochemical responses to excessive light levels, and…
- xanthophyll1931–Any of a group of yellow pigments (as lutein and violaxanthin) that are oxygenated carotenoids.
- phenicin1933–A yellow-brown quinonoid pigment which occurs in certain fungi of the genus Penicillium; 3,3′-dihydroxy-5,5′-dimethyl-2,2′-bis-1,4-benzoquinone…
Pronunciation
British English
U.S. English
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
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
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
zeaxanthin typically occurs about 0.06 times per million words in modern written English.
zeaxanthin 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 of zeaxanthin, n., 1920–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1920 | 0.018 |
| 1930 | 0.017 |
| 1940 | 0.019 |
| 1950 | 0.019 |
| 1960 | 0.028 |
| 1970 | 0.039 |
| 1980 | 0.049 |
| 1990 | 0.054 |
| 2000 | 0.062 |
| 2010 | 0.072 |
Frequency of zeaxanthin, n., 2017–2024
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.
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 corpus.
| Period | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 0.042 |
| 2018 | 0.041 |
| 2019 | 0.042 |
| 2020 | 0.05 |
| 2021 | 0.057 |
| 2022 | 0.063 |
| 2023 | 0.069 |
| 2024 | 0.076 |