zodiac ring, n.

zodiac-ring
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zodiac-ring_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# zodiac ringnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zodiac ring mean?

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

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1890 | 0.0003
1900 | 0.0003
1910 | 0.0002
1920 | 0.0002
1930 | 0.0002
1940 | 0.0001
1950 | 0.0001
1960 | 0.0001
1970 | 0.0002
1980 | 0.0002
1990 | 0.0002
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0003

### Where does the noun zodiac ring come from?

Earliest known use

1890s

The earliest known use of the noun zodiac ring is in the 1890s.

OED's earliest evidence for zodiac ring is from 1895, in Notes and Queries.

### Nearby entries

1. zoarial, adj. 1896–
2. zoarium, n. 1880–
3. zob, n. 1911–
4. zocalo, n. 1884–
5. zocco, n. 1664–1723
6. zocle, n. 1704–
7. zoco, n. 1892–
8. zodiac, n. 1390–
9. zodiacal, adj. 1576–
10. zodiac line, n. 1590
11. zodiac ring, n.1895–
12. zodiographer, n. 1650
13. zoea, n. 1828–
14. zoeal, adj.?1870–
15. zoetrope, n. 1866–
16. zographer, n. 1570
17. zography, n. 1570
18. zograscope, n. 1753–
19. Zohar, n. 1682–
20. zoic, adj. 1863–
21. -zoic, comb. form¹

## Meaning & use

1. 1895–
   A ring with figures of the signs of the zodiac.
   1. 1895

      > Zodiac Rings. These, when made of gold, are usually said to be the work of native goldsmiths on the African coast.

      Notes & Queries 8th Series vol. 8 187/2
   2. 1895

      > I have a gold zodiac ring marked with the leopard's head.

      Notes & Queries 8th Series vol. 8 272/1
   jewellery
   1. posy ring 1858–
      A finger ring with a motto engraved inside (now historical).
   2. name-ring 1876–
   3. tau ring 1876–
      A ring inscribed with a tau or taus.
   4. zodiac ring 1895–
      A ring with figures of the signs of the zodiac.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

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

zodiac ring 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 zodiac ring, n., 1890–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1890 | 0.0003
1900 | 0.0003
1910 | 0.0002
1920 | 0.0002
1930 | 0.0002
1940 | 0.0001
1950 | 0.0001
1960 | 0.0001
1970 | 0.0002
1980 | 0.0002
1990 | 0.0002
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0003

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

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