zophorus | zoophorusnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zophorus mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zophorus. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, 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 zophorus?
| 1750 | 0.0027 |
| 1760 | 0.0022 |
| 1770 | 0.0024 |
| 1780 | 0.0028 |
| 1790 | 0.0023 |
| 1800 | 0.0042 |
| 1810 | 0.0048 |
| 1820 | 0.0058 |
| 1830 | 0.0059 |
| 1840 | 0.0056 |
| 1850 | 0.005 |
| 1860 | 0.004 |
| 1870 | 0.0023 |
| 1880 | 0.0017 |
| 1890 | 0.0006 |
| 1900 | 0.0005 |
| 1910 | 0.0004 |
| 1920 | 0.0002 |
| 1930 | 0.0003 |
| 1940 | 0.0002 |
| 1950 | 0.0002 |
| 1960 | 0.0002 |
| 1970 | 0.0002 |
| 1980 | 0.0002 |
| 1990 | 0.0002 |
| 2000 | 0.0002 |
| 2010 | 0.0001 |
How is the noun zophorus pronounced?
British English
Where does the noun zophorus come from?
Earliest known use
mid 1500s
The earliest known use of the noun zophorus is in the mid 1500s.
OED's earliest evidence for zophorus is from 1563, in the writing of John Shute, writer on architecture.
zophorus is a borrowing from Latin.
Etymons: Latin zōphorus.
Nearby entries
- zooty, adj.1942–
- zootype, n.1883–
- zootypic, adj.1853–
- zoowoman, n.1930–
- zooxanthella, n.1882–
- zooxanthellate, adj. & n.1981–
- zooxanthin, n.1868–
- zoozygosphere, n.1880–
- zope, n.1880–
- zophoric, adj.1728–
- zophorus | zoophorus, n.1563–
- zopilote, n.1787–
- zopissa, n.1601–
- zoppa, adj.1740–
- Zoque, n.1891–
- Zoque–Mixe, adj. & n.1893–
- Zorb, n.1996–
- zorbing, n.1996–
- zorgite, n.1852–
- zori, n.?1823–
- zoril, n.1774–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1563–A continuous frieze bearing human and animal figures carved in relief.
- 1563
Vpon their heddes, he laide Epistilia, and Coronas, setting betwixt them Zophorus.
J. Shute, First Groundes of Architecture sig. Biii - 1694
The Architraves, Zoophores and Cornishes.
P. A. Motteux, translation of F. Rabelais, 5th Book of Works xliii. 199 - 1706
Zophorus or Zoophorus.
Phillips's New World of Words (new edition) - 1823P. Nicholson, New Practical Builder 586.
- 1905
The sculptures on the zophorus of the west front..should be taken down and stored in a museum.
Times 25 April 5/2
- frieze1563–That member in the entablature of an order which comes between the architrave and cornice. Also in extended sense (see quot. 1850).
- zophorus1563–A continuous frieze bearing human and animal figures carved in relief.
- Panathenaic frieze1877–A continuous frieze extending the entire length of the outer wall of the cella of the Parthenon, depicting the great procession of the Panathenaea.
Pronunciation
British English
British 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.
Forms
Variant forms
Plural -i. Also 1700s anglicized zoophore.Frequency
zophorus typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zophorus is in frequency band 1, which contains words occurring fewer than 0.001 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of zophorus | zoophorus, n., 1750–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1750 | 0.0027 |
| 1760 | 0.0022 |
| 1770 | 0.0024 |
| 1780 | 0.0028 |
| 1790 | 0.0023 |
| 1800 | 0.0042 |
| 1810 | 0.0048 |
| 1820 | 0.0058 |
| 1830 | 0.0059 |
| 1840 | 0.0056 |
| 1850 | 0.005 |
| 1860 | 0.004 |
| 1870 | 0.0023 |
| 1880 | 0.0017 |
| 1890 | 0.0006 |
| 1900 | 0.0005 |
| 1910 | 0.0004 |
| 1920 | 0.0002 |
| 1930 | 0.0003 |
| 1940 | 0.0002 |
| 1950 | 0.0002 |
| 1960 | 0.0002 |
| 1970 | 0.0002 |
| 1980 | 0.0002 |
| 1990 | 0.0002 |
| 2000 | 0.0002 |
| 2010 | 0.0001 |
Compounds & derived words
- zophoric, adj. 1728–Bearing the figure of an animal.