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?
| 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
- zoarial, adj.1896–
- zoarium, n.1880–
- zob, n.1911–
- zocalo, n.1884–
- zocco, n.1664–1723
- zocle, n.1704–
- zoco, n.1892–
- zodiac, n.1390–
- zodiacal, adj.1576–
- zodiac line, n.1590
- zodiac ring, n.1895–
- zodiographer, n.1650
- zoea, n.1828–
- zoeal, adj.?1870–
- zoetrope, n.1866–
- zographer, n.1570
- zography, n.1570
- zograscope, n.1753–
- Zohar, n.1682–
- zoic, adj.1863–
- -zoic, comb. form¹
Meaning & use
- 1895–A ring with figures of the signs of the zodiac.
- 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 - 1895
I have a gold zodiac ring marked with the leopard's head.
Notes & Queries 8th Series vol. 8 272/1
the mind attention and judgement beautification types of ornamentation jewellery ring [nouns] ring with inscription- posy ring1858–A finger ring with a motto engraved inside (now historical).
- name-ring1876–
- tau ring1876–A ring inscribed with a tau or taus.
- zodiac ring1895–A ring with figures of the signs of the zodiac.
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 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 |