zymosis, n.

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

# zymosisnoun

## Earlier version

- zymosis in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zymosis mean?

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

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1840 | 0.018
1850 | 0.023
1860 | 0.022
1870 | 0.02
1880 | 0.019
1890 | 0.018
1900 | 0.014
1910 | 0.011
1920 | 0.0052
1930 | 0.0031
1940 | 0.0023
1950 | 0.002
1960 | 0.0016
1970 | 0.0015
1980 | 0.0015
1990 | 0.0016
2000 | 0.0016
2010 | 0.0017

### How is the noun zymosis pronounced?

#### British English

/zʌɪˈməʊsɪs/
zigh-MOH-siss

#### U.S. English

/zaɪˈmoʊsəs/
zigh-MOH-suhss

### Where does the noun zymosis come from?

Earliest known use

1840s

The earliest known use of the noun zymosis is in the 1840s.

OED's earliest evidence for zymosis is from 1842, in the writing of W. Farr.

zymosis is a borrowing from Latin.

### Nearby entries

1. zymolysis, n. 1890–
2. zymolytic, adj. 1890–
3. zymome, n. 1820–31
4. zymometer, n. 1842–
5. zymophore, adj. 1900–
6. zymophoric, adj. 1902–
7. zymophyte, n. 1890–
8. zymosan, n. 1943–
9. zymoscope, n. 1868–
10. zymosimeter, n. 1704–
11. zymosis, n.1842–
12. zymotechnic, adj. 1896–
13. zymotechnical, adj. 1900–
14. zymotechnologist, n. 1896–
15. zymotechny, n. 1860–
16. zymotic, adj. & n. 1842–
17. zymotoxic, adj. 1902–
18. zymurgy, n. 1868–
19. Zyrian, n. & adj. 1886–
20. zythum, n. 1608–
21. Zyzzyva, n. 1922–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Latin.
modern Latin, < Greek ζύμωσις fermentation, < ζυμοῦν to leaven, in passive to ferment, < ζύμη leaven: see ‑osis suffix.

## Meaning & use

1. 1842–
   Fermentation; spec. the morbid process which constitutes a zymotic disease, regarded as analogous to or involving fermentation.
   1. 1842

      > Zymosis fermentation, and zyma ferment, may also be employed in English, not in the sense which they have in Greek, but as general designations of the morbid processes and their exciters.

      W. Farr in 4th Annual Rep. Registrar-Gen. Births, Deaths, & Marriages Eng. 201 (note)
   2. 1842

      > Some..kinds of matter (zymin) are reproduced in the organization after they have been destroyed by transformation (zymosis) in attacks of disease.

      W. Farr in 4th Annual Rep. Registrar-Gen. Births, Deaths, & Marriages Eng. 202
   3. 1876

      > As all fermentations are correlative of the growth and multiplication of these minute bodies, carbolic acid, by destroying their activity, arrests zymosis.

      R. Bartholow, Practical Treatise on Materia Medica iii. 485
   figurative
   1. 1876

      > In the Elizabethan Age there was a dramatic zymosis, when all the genius ran in that direction.

      R. W. Emerson, Eloquence in Works (1906) vol. III. 195
   pathology
   1. infecting a1398–
      The action of infect, v., in various senses; infection.
   2. corruption c1430–1598
      Infection, infected condition; also figurative contagion, taint. Obsolete.
   3. infection 1548–
      The transmission, communication, or (esp. in early use) acquisition of (a) disease; spec. transmission of a disease or its causative agent by…
   4. infecture 1580–
      The action of infecting; infection.
   5. contamination 1599–
      The action of contaminating, or condition of being contaminated; defilement, pollution, infection. literal (spec. the presence of radioactivity where…
   6. smittling 1625–
      Contagion, infection.
   7. zymosis 1842–
      Fermentation; spec. the morbid process which constitutes a zymotic disease, regarded as analogous to or involving fermentation.
   8. autoinfection 1871–
      Reinfection with an agent that remains in the body after causing a previous infection; esp. reinfection with a second or subsequent generation of…
   9. mouth infection 1903–
      Transmission of disease via the mouth; (also) an infection of the mouth.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zʌɪˈməʊsɪs/
zigh-MOH-siss

### U.S. English

/zaɪˈmoʊsəs/
zigh-MOH-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 zymoses /-siːz/ .

## Frequency

zymosis typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zymosis 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 zymosis, n., 1840–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1840 | 0.018
1850 | 0.023
1860 | 0.022
1870 | 0.02
1880 | 0.019
1890 | 0.018
1900 | 0.014
1910 | 0.011
1920 | 0.0052
1930 | 0.0031
1940 | 0.0023
1950 | 0.002
1960 | 0.0016
1970 | 0.0015
1980 | 0.0015
1990 | 0.0016
2000 | 0.0016
2010 | 0.0017

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

zymosis, n. was last modified in December 2024.