zootomist, n.

zootomist
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zootomist_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2017

# zootomistnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zootomist mean?

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

### How common is the noun zootomist?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1790 | 0.0049
1800 | 0.0061
1810 | 0.0056
1820 | 0.0056
1830 | 0.0061
1840 | 0.0057
1850 | 0.0062
1860 | 0.0053
1870 | 0.0042
1880 | 0.0038
1890 | 0.0032
1900 | 0.0021
1910 | 0.0021
1920 | 0.0016
1930 | 0.0012
1940 | 0.0007
1950 | 0.0007
1960 | 0.0005
1970 | 0.0005
1980 | 0.0002
1990 | 0.0002
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0002

### How is the noun zootomist pronounced?

#### British English

/zuːˈɒtəmɪst/
zoo-OT-uh-mist
/zəʊˈɒtəmɪst/
zoh-OT-uh-mist

#### U.S. English

/zoʊˈɑdəməst/
zoh-AH-duh-muhst
/zuˈɑdəməst/
zoo-AH-duh-muhst

### Where does the noun zootomist come from?

Earliest known use

mid 1600s

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

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

zootomist is formed within English, by derivation.

Etymons: zootomy n., ‑ist suffix.

### Nearby entries

1. zoothecium, n. 1880–
2. zootheism, n. 1879–
3. zootheist, n. 1879–
4. zootheistic, adj. 1879–
5. zoothome, n. 1872–
6. zootic, adj. 1816–
7. zootokon, n. 1661
8. zootomic, adj. 1801–
9. zootomical, adj. 1799–
10. zootomically, adv. 1849–
11. zootomist, n.1663–
12. zootomy, n. 1663–
13. zootoxin, n. 1906–
14. zootrophy, n. 1877–
15. zoot suit, n. 1942–
16. zoot-suited, adj. 1942–
17. zoot-suiter, n. 1942–
18. zooty, adj. 1942–
19. zootype, n. 1883–
20. zootypic, adj. 1853–
21. zoowoman, n. 1930–

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by derivation.
< zootomy n. + ‑ist suffix.

## Meaning & use

Now historical and rare.

1. 1663–
   An expert in zootomy, a comparative anatomist; a person who dissects the bodies of animals.
   1. 1663

      > The diligence of Zootomists may much contribute to illustrate the Doctrine of Andratomy.

      R. Boyle, Some Considerations Usefulnesse Experimental Natural Philosophy ii. 12
   2. 1688

      > The remarks of Zootomists.

      R. Boyle, Disquisition Final Causes iv. 223
   3. 1797

      > The cook..by profession a zootomist.

      S. James, Narrative of Voyage 156
   4. 1833

      > The structure of almost every class of animals has been the subject of separate and minute examination among the zootomists of France.

      Lancet 12 October 96/2
   5. 1879

      > If the biologist recognises the many points of community in animal structures, the zootomist has to insist on the points of diversity.

      G. H. Lewes, Problems of Life & Mind 3rd Series i. 132
   6. 1908

      > The child who has been taught to draw well will make the skilful zootomist..and the dexterous surgeon.

      British Medical Journal 18 July 167/1
   7. 1944

      > ‘Zootomists’ were compelled to limit themselves to dissection of apes, dogs, and pigs in order to gain an insight into the anatomy of the human subject.

      British Medical Journal 2 September 319/2
   animals historical
   1. zootomist 1663–
      An expert in zootomy, a comparative anatomist; a person who dissects the bodies of animals.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. zootomist 1663–
      An expert in zootomy, a comparative anatomist; a person who dissects the bodies of animals.
   2. prosector 1801–
      A person who dissects cadavers, esp. in preparation for anatomical teaching; an assistant to an anatomist, pathologist, or zoologist who is…
   3. necrotomist 1849
      A person who dissects dead bodies.
   4. comparative anatomist 1854–
      spec. Involving comparison of different branches of a science or subject of study; as comparative anatomy, comparative philology, etc. So comparative…
   5. vivisector 1863–
      One who vivisects or practises vivisection.
   6. anatomizer 1873–
      One who anatomizes; a dissecter.
   7. vivisectionist 1879–
      One who practises or defends vivisection.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zuːˈɒtəmɪst/
zoo-OT-uh-mist
/zəʊˈɒtəmɪst/
zoh-OT-uh-mist

### U.S. English

/zoʊˈɑdəməst/
zoh-AH-duh-muhst
/zuˈɑdəməst/
zoo-AH-duh-muhst

####

##### 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

See zootomy n. and ‑ist suffix.

## Frequency

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

zootomist 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 data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zootomist, n., 1790–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1790 | 0.0049
1800 | 0.0061
1810 | 0.0056
1820 | 0.0056
1830 | 0.0061
1840 | 0.0057
1850 | 0.0062
1860 | 0.0053
1870 | 0.0042
1880 | 0.0038
1890 | 0.0032
1900 | 0.0021
1910 | 0.0021
1920 | 0.0016
1930 | 0.0012
1940 | 0.0007
1950 | 0.0007
1960 | 0.0005
1970 | 0.0005
1980 | 0.0002
1990 | 0.0002
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0002

Originally published as part of the entry for zootomy, n.

zootomist, n. was revised in June 2017.

zootomist, n. was last modified in July 2023.