zygitenoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zygite mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zygite. 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 zygite?
| 1880 | 0.0076 |
| 1890 | 0.0061 |
| 1900 | 0.0054 |
| 1910 | 0.0047 |
| 1920 | 0.0037 |
| 1930 | 0.0007 |
| 1940 | 0.001 |
| 1950 | 0.001 |
| 1960 | 0.0012 |
| 1970 | 0.0009 |
| 1980 | 0.001 |
| 1990 | 0.0009 |
| 2000 | 0.0009 |
| 2010 | 0.0006 |
How is the noun zygite pronounced?
British English
Where does the noun zygite come from?
Earliest known use
1880s
The earliest known use of the noun zygite is in the 1880s.
OED's only evidence for zygite is from 1888, in the writing of W. B. Woodgate.
zygite is a borrowing from Greek.
Etymons: Greek ζυγίτης.
Nearby entries
- zwitterionic, adj.1946–
- Zydeco, n.1949–
- zygadite, n.1861–
- zygaena, n.1717–
- zygaenid, n. & adj.1913–
- zygaenidan, n.1837–
- zygal, adj.1886–
- zygantrum, n.1854–
- zygapophysial, adj.1870–
- zygapophysis, n.1854–
- zygite, n.1888–
- zygnemaceous, adj.
- zygnemid, n.1887–
- zygnomic, adj.1926–
- zygo-, comb. form
- zygobranchiate, adj.1883–
- zygocactus, n.1950–
- zygocardiac, adj.1877–
- zygodactyl, adj. & n.1831–
- zygodactylic, adj.1835–
- zygodactylous, adj.1828–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1888–In the ancient bireme or trireme, a rower of the upper or the middle tier: cf. thalamite n., thranite n.
- 1888
In the bireme the zygite, as he sat on his bench, had behind him and below him his thalamite.
W. B. Woodgate, Boating (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) i. 17
society travel travel by water one who travels by water or sea sailor types of sailor [nouns] rower rower in trireme- thranite1842–In the ancient trireme, a rower in one of the tiers, as generally supposed, the uppermost tier, which had the longest oars and hardest work; but the…
- thalamite1886–In the ancient trireme, a rower in one of the tiers of rowers, generally supposed to be that which occupied the lowest bench; but the actual…
- zygite1888–In the ancient bireme or trireme, a rower of the upper or the middle tier: cf. thalamite, n., thranite, n.
Pronunciation
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.
Frequency
zygite typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zygite 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 zygite, n., 1880–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1880 | 0.0076 |
| 1890 | 0.0061 |
| 1900 | 0.0054 |
| 1910 | 0.0047 |
| 1920 | 0.0037 |
| 1930 | 0.0007 |
| 1940 | 0.001 |
| 1950 | 0.001 |
| 1960 | 0.0012 |
| 1970 | 0.0009 |
| 1980 | 0.001 |
| 1990 | 0.0009 |
| 2000 | 0.0009 |
| 2010 | 0.0006 |