zeteticsnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zetetics mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zetetics. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun zetetics?
| 1880 | 0.00001 |
| 1890 | 0.00002 |
| 1900 | 0.00001 |
| 1910 | 0.00001 |
| 1920 | 0.0001 |
| 1930 | 0.0002 |
| 1940 | 0.0002 |
| 1950 | 0.0002 |
| 1960 | 0.0003 |
| 1970 | 0.0003 |
| 1980 | 0.0004 |
| 1990 | 0.0003 |
| 2000 | 0.0003 |
| 2010 | 0.0002 |
How is the noun zetetics pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zetetics come from?
Earliest known use
1840s
The earliest known use of the noun zetetics is in the 1840s.
OED's earliest evidence for zetetics is from 1843, in Penny Cyclopaedia.
zetetics is a variant or alteration of another lexical item.
Etymons: zetetic n.
Nearby entries
- zeta, n.¹?a1425–
- zeta, n.²1706–1860
- zetacism, n.1860–
- zeta function, n.1879–
- zeta-ic, adj.1840–1927
- zeta potential, n.1927–
- zetetic, adj. & n.1645–
- zetetical, adj. & n.1646–
- zetetically, adv.1665–
- Zetetical Society, n.1881–
- zetetics, n.1843–
- Zetland, n.1577–
- Zetlander, n.1614–
- Zetlandic, adj.1701–
- zetta-, comb. form
- Zeuglodon, n.1839–
- zeuglodont, n. & adj.1850–
- zeuglodontoid, adj. & n.1891
- zeugma, n.c1450–
- zeugmatic, adj.1851–
- zeugmatical, adj.1610–
Etymology
Meaning & use
- 1843–The study of mathematical problems by expressing them in terms of equations and solving these algebraically, according to certain laws first specified by French mathematician François Viète (1540–1603).Zetetics, together with Viète's system for denoting both variables and constants by letters, represented a significant development in the systematic study and application of algebra.
- 1843
Zetetics, a name given by Vieta..to the part of algebra which consists in the direct search after unknown quantities.
Penny Cyclopaedia vol. XXVII. 775/2 - 1969
The term ‘zetetics’ never became popular.
Source Book Math., 1200–1800 ii. 75 - 2001
Zetetics was the art of translating a problem, be it an arithmetical or a geometrical one, into one or more algebraic equations.
H. J. M. Bos, Redefining Geom. Exactness viii. 146
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
Frequency
zetetics typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zetetics 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 zetetics, n., 1880–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1880 | 0.00001 |
| 1890 | 0.00002 |
| 1900 | 0.00001 |
| 1910 | 0.00001 |
| 1920 | 0.0001 |
| 1930 | 0.0002 |
| 1940 | 0.0002 |
| 1950 | 0.0002 |
| 1960 | 0.0003 |
| 1970 | 0.0003 |
| 1980 | 0.0004 |
| 1990 | 0.0003 |
| 2000 | 0.0003 |
| 2010 | 0.0002 |