zygapophysis, n.

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

# zygapophysisnoun

## Earlier version

- zygapophysis in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zygapophysis mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zygapophysis. 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 zygapophysis?

About 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1850 | 0.12
1860 | 0.12
1870 | 0.12
1880 | 0.11
1890 | 0.11
1900 | 0.094
1910 | 0.076
1920 | 0.061
1930 | 0.054
1940 | 0.039
1950 | 0.032
1960 | 0.027
1970 | 0.019
1980 | 0.016
1990 | 0.015
2000 | 0.011
2010 | 0.01

### How is the noun zygapophysis pronounced?

#### British English

/ˌzʌɪɡəˈpɒfᵻsɪs/
zigh-guh-POFF-uh-siss
/ˌzɪɡəˈpɒfᵻsɪs/
zig-uh-POFF-uh-siss

#### U.S. English

/ˌzaɪɡəˈpɑfəsəs/
zigh-guh-PAH-fuh-suhss

### Where does the noun zygapophysis come from?

Earliest known use

1850s

The earliest known use of the noun zygapophysis is in the 1850s.

OED's only evidence for zygapophysis is from 1854, in the writing of Richard Owen, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist.

zygapophysis is a borrowing from Latin.

### Nearby entries

1. zwitterion, n. 1906–
2. zwitterionic, adj. 1946–
3. Zydeco, n. 1949–
4. zygadite, n. 1861–
5. zygaena, n. 1717–
6. zygaenid, n. & adj. 1913–
7. zygaenidan, n. 1837–
8. zygal, adj. 1886–
9. zygantrum, n. 1854–
10. zygapophysial, adj. 1870–
11. zygapophysis, n.1854–
12. zygite, n. 1888–
13. zygnemaceous, adj.
14. zygnemid, n. 1887–
15. zygnomic, adj. 1926–
16. zygo-, comb. form
17. zygobranchiate, adj. 1883–
18. zygocactus, n. 1950–
19. zygocardiac, adj. 1877–
20. zygodactyl, adj. & n. 1831–
21. zygodactylic, adj. 1835–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Latin.
modern Latin, < Greek ζυγόν yoke + ἀπόϕυσις apophysis n.

## Meaning & use

Anatomy and Zoology.

1. 1854–
   A lateral process on the neural arch of a vertebra, articulating with the corresponding process of the next vertebra; an articular process. There are normally four to each vertebra, viz. right and left anterior (prezygapophyses) and right and left posterior (postzygapophyses).
   1. 1854

      > The exogenous parts are the diapophysis.., the parapophysis.., the zygapophysis.., the anapophysis.., the metapophysis.., the hypapophysis.., and the epapophysis.

      R. Owen, Structure of Skeleton & Teeth in Orr's Circle of Sciences: Organic Nature vol. I. 169
   animals anatomy
   1. apophysis 1611–
      Physiology. A natural protuberance or process, arising from, and forming a continuous part of, a bone; esp. one of the processes on the spinal…
   2. transverse process 1696–
      A lateral process of a vertebra.
   3. axis 1701–
      Physiology. A tooth or process on the second cervical vertebra, upon which the head is turned.
   4. neurapophysis 1840–
      Either of the two dorsal processes of a vertebra, each consisting of a pedicle and lamina, which unite in the midline to form the vertebral (neural)…
   5. parapophysis 1846–
      Either of a pair of transverse processes on the ventral side of the centrum of a vertebra, often serving as a point of attachment for a rib.
   6. pleurapophysis 1848–
      Either of a pair of lateral processes of a vertebra, in the thoracic region forming the ribs, and elsewhere fused to the diapophysis.
   7. haemapophysis 1849–
      Owen's term for that portion of the hæmal arch of a typical vertebra situated between the pleurapophysis and the hæmal spine; represented in the…
   8. postzygapophysis 1851–
      Either of the two posterior or inferior articular processes (left and right) on the neural arch of a vertebra, which articulate with the…
   9. anapophysis 1854–
      A small bony process, springing in a backward direction from the neural arch of the vertebræ, between the metapophysis and diapophysis.
   10. hypapophysis 1854–
       An apophysis, n. or spinous process on the lower or ventral side of a vertebral centrum.
   11. zygapophysis 1854–
       A lateral process on the neural arch of a vertebra, articulating with the corresponding process of the next vertebra; an articular process. There…
   12. intercentrum 1878–
       A wedge-shaped or chevron-shaped process, generally situated between the centra, occurring on the ventral aspect of the vertebral column in many…
   13. neuroid 1887–93
       Each half of a vertebral (neural) arch. Obsolete.
   14. pleuroid 1887–92
       = pleurapophysis, n.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˌzʌɪɡəˈpɒfᵻsɪs/
zigh-guh-POFF-uh-siss
/ˌzɪɡəˈpɒfᵻsɪs/
zig-uh-POFF-uh-siss

### U.S. English

/ˌzaɪɡəˈpɑfəsəs/
zigh-guh-PAH-fuh-suhss

####

##### 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

## Forms

### Variant forms

Plural zygapophyses /-fɪsiːz/ .

## Frequency

zygapophysis typically occurs about 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zygapophysis 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 zygapophysis, n., 1850–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1850 | 0.12
1860 | 0.12
1870 | 0.12
1880 | 0.11
1890 | 0.11
1900 | 0.094
1910 | 0.076
1920 | 0.061
1930 | 0.054
1940 | 0.039
1950 | 0.032
1960 | 0.027
1970 | 0.019
1980 | 0.016
1990 | 0.015
2000 | 0.011
2010 | 0.01

## Compounds & derived words

Sort by

1. postzygapophysis, n. 1851–
   Either of the two posterior or inferior articular…

1. prezygapophysis, n. 1851–
   Either of the two (left and right) anterior or…

1. prozygapophysis, n. 1851–78
   = prezygapophysis, n.

1. zygapophysial, adj. 1870–
   Pertaining to a zygapophysis.

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

zygapophysis, n. was last modified in December 2024.