zostera, n.

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

# zosteranoun

## Earlier version

- zostera in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zostera mean?

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

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1810 | 0.0066
1820 | 0.0083
1830 | 0.0099
1840 | 0.01
1850 | 0.01
1860 | 0.01
1870 | 0.0094
1880 | 0.0091
1890 | 0.0075
1900 | 0.0054
1910 | 0.0041
1920 | 0.0035
1930 | 0.0032
1940 | 0.003
1950 | 0.0026
1960 | 0.0021
1970 | 0.0018
1980 | 0.0015
1990 | 0.0013
2000 | 0.0012
2010 | 0.001

### How is the noun zostera pronounced?

#### British English

/zɒˈstɪərə/

### Where does the noun zostera come from?

Earliest known use

1810s

The earliest known use of the noun zostera is in the 1810s.

OED's earliest evidence for zostera is from 1819, in a translation by John Lindley, botanist and horticulturist.

zostera is a borrowing from Latin.

### Nearby entries

1. zoril, n. 1774–
2. Zoroastrian, adj. & n. 1597–
3. Zoroastrianism, n. 1832–
4. Zoroastrianize, v. 1891–
5. Zoroastric, adj. a1739–
6. Zoroastrism, n. 1819–
7. zorrino, n. 1885–
8. zorro, n. 1838–
9. zos-grass, n. 1937–
10. zoster, n. 1601–
11. zostera, n.1819–
12. zosterops, n. 1867–
13. Zouave, n. 1848–
14. zouk, n. 1986–
15. zounds, v. 1680
16. zounds, int. a1593–
17. Zou-Zou, n. 1860–
18. zowie, int. 1902–
19. zoysia, n. 1965–
20. ZPG, n. 1970–
21. Zr, n. 1814–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Latin.
modern Latin (Linnæus), < Greek ζωστήρ: see zoster n. and ‑a suffix1. So called from its long leaves.

## Meaning & use

Botany.

1. 1819–
   A marine plant of the genus so named, esp. grasswrack, Z. marina.
   1. 1819

      > The kernel of Zostera is an oblong oval.

      J. Lindley, translation of L.-C. Richard, Observations on Structure of Fruits & Seeds 54
   2. 1855

      > The delicate green ribbons of the Zostera (the only English flowering plant which grows beneath the sea).

      C. Kingsley, Glaucus 57
   3. 1858

      > The thin line of dry Zostera to be met with at high-water mark.

      Phytologist November 601
   4. 1865

      > I have found it often in Zostera beds at low tide.

      Mrs. L. L. Clarke, Common Seaweeds ii. 30
   plants
   1. sweet-grass 1577–
      Any kind of grass (or herb called ‘grass’) of a sweet taste serving as fodder; spec. a book-name for the genus Glyceria; also locally, the woodruff, A…
   2. grass wrack 1633–
      A common seagrass native to coastal waters of the North Atlantic and North Pacific, Zostera marina, having long, thin, grass-like leaves.
   3. grass weed 1658–
      a. (More fully sea grass weed) any of several seagrasses or aquatic plants; spec. grass wrack, Zostera marina; b. any of various plants which…
   4. eel-grass 1790–
      A plant with long narrow leaves: (a) = grass wrack, n.; (b) = tape-grass, n.; (c) figurative.
   5. zostera 1819–
      A marine plant of the genus so named, esp. grasswrack, Z. marina.
   6. sea-wrack grass 1836–
      Zostera marina.
   7. wigeon grass 1857–
      (Chiefly in form widgeon grass) (originally) a type of seagrass growing along the coastlines of North America and Eurasia, Zostera marina (family Z…
   8. sea-grass 1858–
      One of various plants and seaweeds growing in the sea: (a) a pondweed, Ruppia maritima; (b) the eel-grass or grass-wrack, Zostera marina; also, the…
   9. wigeon weed 1893–
      (Chiefly in form widgeon weed) = wigeon grass, n.
   10. zos-grass 1937–
       = zostera, n.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zɒˈstɪərə/

####

##### 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.

## Frequency

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

zostera 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 zostera, n., 1810–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1810 | 0.0066
1820 | 0.0083
1830 | 0.0099
1840 | 0.01
1850 | 0.01
1860 | 0.01
1870 | 0.0094
1880 | 0.0091
1890 | 0.0075
1900 | 0.0054
1910 | 0.0041
1920 | 0.0035
1930 | 0.0032
1940 | 0.003
1950 | 0.0026
1960 | 0.0021
1970 | 0.0018
1980 | 0.0015
1990 | 0.0013
2000 | 0.0012
2010 | 0.001

## Compounds & derived words

Sort by

1. zos-grass, n. 1937–
   = zostera, n.

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

zostera, n. was last modified in December 2024.