Zeusnoun2
Factsheet
What does the noun Zeus mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun Zeus. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun Zeus?
| 1750 | 0.0044 |
| 1760 | 0.0045 |
| 1770 | 0.0046 |
| 1780 | 0.0047 |
| 1790 | 0.005 |
| 1800 | 0.0051 |
| 1810 | 0.0054 |
| 1820 | 0.0055 |
| 1830 | 0.0057 |
| 1840 | 0.0059 |
| 1850 | 0.0061 |
| 1860 | 0.0063 |
| 1870 | 0.0067 |
| 1880 | 0.0069 |
| 1890 | 0.0072 |
| 1900 | 0.0076 |
| 1910 | 0.0078 |
| 1920 | 0.0082 |
| 1930 | 0.0084 |
| 1940 | 0.0086 |
| 1950 | 0.0087 |
| 1960 | 0.009 |
| 1970 | 0.0092 |
| 1980 | 0.0094 |
| 1990 | 0.0095 |
| 2000 | 0.0096 |
| 2010 | 0.0097 |
How is the noun Zeus pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun Zeus come from?
Earliest known use
early 1600s
The earliest known use of the noun Zeus is in the early 1600s.
OED's earliest evidence for Zeus is from 1601, in a translation by Philemon Holland, translator.
Zeus is a borrowing from Latin.
Etymons: Latin zaeus, zēus.
Nearby entries
- zeuglodontoid, adj. & n.1891
- zeugma, n.c1450–
- zeugmatic, adj.1851–
- zeugmatical, adj.1610–
- zeugmatically, adv.1616–
- zeugmatogram, n.1973–
- zeugmatographic, adj.1973–
- zeugmatography, n.1973–
- zeunerite, n.1873–
- Zeus, n.¹1587–
- Zeus, n.²1601–
- Zeus-like, adj. & adv.1850–
- Zeuxian, adj.1635–
- Zeuxis, n.1577–
- Zeuxis-like, adj.1665–
- zeuxite, n.1836–
- zeze, n.1860–
- Zhdanovism, n.1958–
- Zhdanovist, adj.1966–
- Zhdanovite, adj.1957–
- zho, n.1841–
Etymology
Summary
Notes
Meaning & use
- 1601–Formerly: the John Dory fish, Zeus faber (family Zeidae); (also) any of several other fishes formerly placed in the genus Zeus (now rare or obsolete). In later use: the genus Zeus itself.
- [1538
Zeus, a fysshe taken about Calys [sc. Cádiz] in Spain, whiche is blacke, but he is very delicate.
T. Elyot, Dictionary] - 1601
At Gades in Spaine, the Doree or Goldfish, called Zeus [Latin zaeus] and Faber.
P. Holland, translation of Pliny, Historie of World vol. I. ix. xviii. 246 - 1706
Zeüs, a Fish taken about Cadiz.., of a black Colour and very delicate.
Phillips's New World of Words (new edition) - 1752
The red Zeus, with an even tail.
J. Hill, General Natural History vol. III. 274 - 1854
His own fish Zeus, the dory [was offered] to Jupiter.
C. D. Badham, Prose Halieutics 48 - 1907
The best-known genus is Zeus, which is a group of shore-fishes of the waters of Asia and Europe.
D. S. Jordan, Fishes xxix. 464 - 2006
Zeus consists of two extant and three fossil species.
Cybium vol. 30 99
the world animals fish superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) [nouns] order Zeiformes (dories) genus Zeus- Zeus1601–Formerly: the John Dory fish, Zeus faber (family Zeidae); (also) any of several other fishes formerly placed in the genus Zeus (now rare or obsolete)…
- Zeus1721–allusively A paramount ruling force or being in the universe; a person who displays characteristics usually associated with Zeus, such as supreme…
Pronunciation
British English
U.S. English
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
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
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
- 1500s–zeus
- 1700szeüs
Frequency
Zeus typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
Zeus 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 of Zeus, n.², 1750–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1750 | 0.0044 |
| 1760 | 0.0045 |
| 1770 | 0.0046 |
| 1780 | 0.0047 |
| 1790 | 0.005 |
| 1800 | 0.0051 |
| 1810 | 0.0054 |
| 1820 | 0.0055 |
| 1830 | 0.0057 |
| 1840 | 0.0059 |
| 1850 | 0.0061 |
| 1860 | 0.0063 |
| 1870 | 0.0067 |
| 1880 | 0.0069 |
| 1890 | 0.0072 |
| 1900 | 0.0076 |
| 1910 | 0.0078 |
| 1920 | 0.0082 |
| 1930 | 0.0084 |
| 1940 | 0.0086 |
| 1950 | 0.0087 |
| 1960 | 0.009 |
| 1970 | 0.0092 |
| 1980 | 0.0094 |
| 1990 | 0.0095 |
| 2000 | 0.0096 |
| 2010 | 0.0097 |
Frequency of Zeus, n.², 2017–2024
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.
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 corpus.
| Period | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 0.044 |
| 2018 | 0.042 |
| 2019 | 0.042 |
| 2020 | 0.052 |
| 2021 | 0.054 |
| 2022 | 0.058 |
| 2023 | 0.064 |
| 2024 | 0.071 |