zebra wolfnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zebra wolf mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zebra wolf. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zebra wolf?
| 1840 | 0.0006 |
| 1850 | 0.0005 |
| 1860 | 0.0005 |
| 1870 | 0.0005 |
| 1880 | 0.0005 |
| 1890 | 0.0004 |
| 1900 | 0.0003 |
| 1910 | 0.0003 |
| 1920 | 0.0002 |
| 1930 | 0.0002 |
| 1940 | 0.0001 |
| 1950 | 0.0001 |
| 1960 | 0.0001 |
| 1970 | 0.0001 |
| 1980 | 0.0001 |
| 1990 | 0.0001 |
| 2000 | 0.0001 |
| 2010 | 0.0001 |
Where does the noun zebra wolf come from?
Earliest known use
1800s
The earliest known use of the noun zebra wolf is in the 1800s.
OED's earliest evidence for zebra wolf is from 1808, in Transactions Linnean Society.
Nearby entries
- zebra poison, n.1871–74
- zebra print, n. & adj.1932–
- zebra rhomb, n.1770–1844
- zebra rock, n.1895–
- zebra rush, n.1882–
- zebra shark, n.1804–
- zebra skin, n.1774–
- zebra spider, n.1806–
- zebra suit, n.1853–
- zebra swallowtail, n.1855–
- zebra wolf, n.1808–
- zebrawood, n.1768–
- zebra woodpecker, n.1884–
- zebrina, n.1846–
- zebrine, adj.a1810–
- zebroid, adj. & n.1881–
- zebrule, n.1899–
- zebu, n.1771–
- zecchino, n.1572–
- Zechstein, n.1798–
- zed, n.c1175–
Meaning & use
- 1808–The thylacine or Tasmanian wolf, Thylacinus cynocephalus; cf. zebra opossum n.
- 1808
It is vulgarly called the Zebra Opossum, Zebra Wolf, &c.
Transactions Linnean Society vol. 9 175 - 1939
The Tasmanian wolf, or pouched dog, is sometimes called the zebra wolf.
Helena (Montana) Independent 13 August 12/6 - 2014
Tasmanian tiger, zebra-wolf, how might you be summoned now your memory's thin and rare?
L. Jacobson, South in World 41
the world animals mammals group Implacenta subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) [nouns] family Dasyuridae subfamily Thylacinae (thylacine)- zebra opossum1808–The thylacine or Tasmanian wolf, Thylacinus cynocephalus; cf. zebra wolf, n.
- zebra wolf1808–The thylacine or Tasmanian wolf, Thylacinus cynocephalus; cf. zebra opossum, n.
- tiger1829–Applied to other than feline beasts.
- hyena1832–A name of the Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger, the most formidable of Australasian animals.
- thylacine1838–The native Tasmanian ‘wolf’ or ‘zebra-wolf’, Thylacinus cynocephalus, the largest of existing carnivorous marsupials (now very scarce or extinct).
- Tasmanian wolf1843–The thylacine, Thylacinus cynocephalus; cf. Tasmanian tiger at tiger, n. 2c(a).
- wolf1891–Applied to other animals in some way resembling wolves. (a) In South Africa, a hyena: see also aardwolf, n., strand-wolf, n., tiger-wolf, n. (b) A…
Frequency
zebra wolf typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zebra wolf 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 zebra wolf, n., 1840–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1840 | 0.0006 |
| 1850 | 0.0005 |
| 1860 | 0.0005 |
| 1870 | 0.0005 |
| 1880 | 0.0005 |
| 1890 | 0.0004 |
| 1900 | 0.0003 |
| 1910 | 0.0003 |
| 1920 | 0.0002 |
| 1930 | 0.0002 |
| 1940 | 0.0001 |
| 1950 | 0.0001 |
| 1960 | 0.0001 |
| 1970 | 0.0001 |
| 1980 | 0.0001 |
| 1990 | 0.0001 |
| 2000 | 0.0001 |
| 2010 | 0.0001 |