zygodactylicadjective
Factsheet
What does the adjective zygodactylic mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective zygodactylic. 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 adjective zygodactylic?
| 1830 | 0.0007 |
| 1840 | 0.0006 |
| 1850 | 0.0006 |
| 1860 | 0.0006 |
| 1870 | 0.0003 |
| 1880 | 0.0004 |
| 1890 | 0.0003 |
| 1900 | 0.0003 |
| 1910 | 0.0004 |
| 1920 | 0.0003 |
| 1930 | 0.0001 |
| 1940 | 0.0001 |
| 1950 | 0.00006 |
| 1960 | 0.00005 |
| 1970 | 0.00005 |
| 1980 | 0.00004 |
| 1990 | 0.00004 |
| 2000 | 0.00005 |
| 2010 | 0.00004 |
Where does the adjective zygodactylic come from?
Earliest known use
1830s
The earliest known use of the adjective zygodactylic is in the 1830s.
OED's only evidence for zygodactylic is from 1835, in the writing of Charles Partington, writer and lecturer on technology and practical science.
Nearby entries
- zygapophysis, n.1854–
- zygite, n.1888–
- zygnemaceous, adj.
- zygnemid, n.1887–
- zygnomic, adj.1926–
- zygo-, comb. form
- zygobranchiate, adj.1883–
- zygocactus, n.1950–
- zygocardiac, adj.1877–
- zygodactyl, adj. & n.1831–
- zygodactylic, adj.1835–
- zygodactylous, adj.1828–
- zygodont, adj.1888–
- zygogenesis, n.1950–
- zygology, n.1970–
- zygoma, n.1684–
- zygomatic, adj. & n.1712–
- zygomatico-, comb. form
- zygomato-, comb. form
- zygomere, n.1966–
- zygomorphic, adj.1875–
Meaning & use
- 1835–See zygodactyl adj.Stressed as zygodacˈtylic.
- 1835
Feet which accomplish these purposes are all zygodactylic, or yoke-toed.
C. F. Partington, British Cyclopaedia Natural History vol. I. 445/1
the world animals birds parts of or bird defined by [adjectives] of toes or claws having particular type of- zygodactylous1828–
- yoke-toed1831–Having toes arranged so that two point forward and two point backward; cf. zygodactylous, adj.
- zygodactyl1831–Having the toes ‘yoked’ or arranged in pairs, i.e. two before and two behind, as the feet of a scansorial bird, or the bird itself; yoke-toed.
- anisodactylic1834–Unequal-toed (said of those insessorial birds called by Temminck Anisodactyles).
- zygodactylic1835–
- lark-heeled1837–(See quots.)
- short-toed1837–Having short toes; esp. in short-toed lark, any of various larks of the genera Calandrella and Spizocorys, which comprise small gregarious birds…
- heterodactylous1854–Having the toes, or one of them, irregular or abnormal, as certain families of birds (Ogilvie, 1882).
- pair-toed1868–(Of a bird) having the toes in pairs, two in front and two behind; zygodactylous.
- sympelmous1885–Having the tendons of the deep flexors of the toes united before separating to each of the four digits.
- pamprodactylous1889–Of a bird's foot: having all the toes pointing forward.
- pigeon-toed1890Ornithology. Of a bird: having feet similar to those of pigeons, with the hind toe inserted at the same level as the other toes. Cf. peristeropod…
- pamprodactyl1934–= pamprodactylous, adj.
- Bad form of sympelmous (see sym-, prefix).
Frequency
zygodactylic typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zygodactylic 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 of zygodactylic, adj., 1830–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1830 | 0.0007 |
| 1840 | 0.0006 |
| 1850 | 0.0006 |
| 1860 | 0.0006 |
| 1870 | 0.0003 |
| 1880 | 0.0004 |
| 1890 | 0.0003 |
| 1900 | 0.0003 |
| 1910 | 0.0004 |
| 1920 | 0.0003 |
| 1930 | 0.0001 |
| 1940 | 0.0001 |
| 1950 | 0.00006 |
| 1960 | 0.00005 |
| 1970 | 0.00005 |
| 1980 | 0.00004 |
| 1990 | 0.00004 |
| 2000 | 0.00005 |
| 2010 | 0.00004 |