zootomy, n.

zootomy
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zootomy_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2017

# zootomynoun

## Earlier version

- zootomy in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zootomy mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zootomy. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the noun zootomy?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1760 | 0.0093
1770 | 0.0087
1780 | 0.0079
1790 | 0.008
1800 | 0.0077
1810 | 0.0085
1820 | 0.006
1830 | 0.0048
1840 | 0.0045
1850 | 0.0048
1860 | 0.0047
1870 | 0.0046
1880 | 0.0042
1890 | 0.004
1900 | 0.004
1910 | 0.0043
1920 | 0.0036
1930 | 0.0027
1940 | 0.0025
1950 | 0.0023
1960 | 0.002
1970 | 0.0018
1980 | 0.0011
1990 | 0.0011
2000 | 0.001
2010 | 0.001

### How is the noun zootomy pronounced?

#### British English

/zuːˈɒtəmi/
zoo-OT-uh-mee
/zəʊˈɒtəmi/
zoh-OT-uh-mee

#### U.S. English

/zoʊˈɑdəmi/
zoh-AH-duh-mee
/zuˈɑdəmi/
zoo-AH-duh-mee

### Where does the noun zootomy come from?

Earliest known use

mid 1600s

The earliest known use of the noun zootomy is in the mid 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for zootomy is from 1663, in the writing of Robert Boyle, natural philosopher.

zootomy is a borrowing from Latin.

Etymons: Latin zootomia.

### Nearby entries

1. zootheism, n. 1879–
2. zootheist, n. 1879–
3. zootheistic, adj. 1879–
4. zoothome, n. 1872–
5. zootic, adj. 1816–
6. zootokon, n. 1661
7. zootomic, adj. 1801–
8. zootomical, adj. 1799–
9. zootomically, adv. 1849–
10. zootomist, n. 1663–
11. zootomy, n.1663–
12. zootoxin, n. 1906–
13. zootrophy, n. 1877–
14. zoot suit, n. 1942–
15. zoot-suited, adj. 1942–
16. zoot-suiter, n. 1942–
17. zooty, adj. 1942–
18. zootype, n. 1883–
19. zootypic, adj. 1853–
20. zoowoman, n. 1930–
21. zooxanthella, n. 1882–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Latin.
Etymon: Latin zootomia.
< post-classical Latin zootomia (M. A. Severinus, 1632) < zoo- zoo- comb. form + ‑tomia ‑tomy comb. form…
< post-classical Latin zootomia (M. A. Severinus, 1632) < zoo- zoo- comb. form + ‑tomia ‑tomy comb. form.

### Notes

Compare the following earlier example of the post-classical Latin word in an English context in a work title:

1. 1654

   > Zootomia, or a morall anatomy of the liuing by the dead..in obseruations essayes &c.

   R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομία (engraved title page)

## Meaning & use

Now historical.

1. 1663–
   The study of the anatomy of animals, comparative anatomy; dissection of the bodies of animals.
   1. 1663

      > The frame of the parts is so like,..that he that is moderately but moderately skilled in Andratomy (as some of the Moderns call the Dissection of Mans Body, to distinguish it from Zootomy, as they name the Dissections of the Bodies of other Animals), may, with due diligence and industry,..improve his Anatomical knowledge.

      R. Boyle, Some Considerations Usefulnesse Experimental Natural Philosophy ii. i. 11
   2. 1697

      > Zootomy is either for compleating natural History,..or for the better Attainment of the Cure of Diseases.

      Philosophical Transactions 1695–7 (Royal Society) vol. 19 558
   3. 1797

      > The cook..lives in East Smithfield, where he exercises the trade of zootomy.

      S. James, Narrative of Voyage 156
   4. 1870

      > To combine the concrete facts of Zootomy with the outlines of systematic Classification.

      G. Rolleston, Forms of Animal Life Preface p. v
   5. 1873

      > This lower jaw—or, as it is called in zootomy, mandible.

      St. G. Mivart, Lessons in Elementary Anatomy iii. 74
   6. 1875

      > [Anatomy] resolves itself into..Animal Anatomy or Zootomy,..and Vegetable Anatomy or Phytotomy.

      W. Turner in Encyclopædia Britannica vol. I. 799/1
   7. 1988

      > Brühl, a prominent comparative anatomist and professor of zootomy at the University of Vienna, was a gripping popular lecturer.

      P. Gay, Freud i. 24
   8. 2000

      > Andreas Holger Maehle..places Severino in the context of the revival of zootomy and animal experimentation but ignores his specific background.

      Isis vol. 91 467 (note)
   animals historical
   1. zootomy 1663–
      The study of the anatomy of animals, comparative anatomy; dissection of the bodies of animals.
   2. necrotomy 1839–
      Dissection of a dead body. Also figurative.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zuːˈɒtəmi/
zoo-OT-uh-mee
/zəʊˈɒtəmi/
zoh-OT-uh-mee

### U.S. English

/zoʊˈɑdəmi/
zoh-AH-duh-mee
/zuˈɑdəmi/
zoo-AH-duh-mee

####

##### 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

1. 1600s
   zootomie
2. 1600s–
   zootomy
3. 1800s–1900s
   zoötomy

## Frequency

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

zootomy 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 zootomy, n., 1760–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1760 | 0.0093
1770 | 0.0087
1780 | 0.0079
1790 | 0.008
1800 | 0.0077
1810 | 0.0085
1820 | 0.006
1830 | 0.0048
1840 | 0.0045
1850 | 0.0048
1860 | 0.0047
1870 | 0.0046
1880 | 0.0042
1890 | 0.004
1900 | 0.004
1910 | 0.0043
1920 | 0.0036
1930 | 0.0027
1940 | 0.0025
1950 | 0.0023
1960 | 0.002
1970 | 0.0018
1980 | 0.0011
1990 | 0.0011
2000 | 0.001
2010 | 0.001

## Compounds & derived words

Sort by

1. zootomist, n. 1663–
   An expert in zootomy, a comparative anatomist; a…

1. zootomical, adj. 1799–
   Of or relating to zootomy (comparative or animal…

1. zootomic, adj. 1801–
   Of or relating to zootomy; = zootomical, adj.

zootomy, n. was revised in June 2017.

zootomy, n. was last modified in July 2023.