zoophyton, n.

zoophyton
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoophyton_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 2017

# zoophytonnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zoophyton mean?

There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun zoophyton, one of which is labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

zoophyton has developed meanings and uses in subjects including

invertebrates (early 1600s) life sciences (early 1600s)

### How common is the noun zoophyton?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1770 | 0.012
1780 | 0.013
1790 | 0.012
1800 | 0.017
1810 | 0.018
1820 | 0.023
1830 | 0.021
1840 | 0.019
1850 | 0.017
1860 | 0.016
1870 | 0.01
1880 | 0.0079
1890 | 0.0031
1900 | 0.0023
1910 | 0.0006
1920 | 0.0005
1930 | 0.0006
1940 | 0.0004
1950 | 0.0003
1960 | 0.0003
1970 | 0.0002
1980 | 0.0002
1990 | 0.0002
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0002

### How is the noun zoophyton pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzuː(ə)fʌɪtən/
ZOO-uh-figh-tuhn
/ˌzuː(ə)ˈfʌɪtən/
zoo-uh-FIGH-tuhn

#### U.S. English

/ˈzoʊəˌfaɪdən/
ZOH-uh-figh-duhn
/ˌzoʊəˈfaɪdən/
zoh-uh-FIGH-duhn

### Where does the noun zoophyton come from?

Earliest known use

early 1600s

The earliest known use of the noun zoophyton is in the early 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for zoophyton is from 1601, in a translation by R. Dolman.

zoophyton is a borrowing from Latin.

Etymons: Latin zoophyton.

### Nearby entries

1. zoophyte, n. 1606–
2. zoophytic, adj. 1808–
3. zoophytical, adj. 1779–
4. zoophytish, adj. 1854–80
5. zoophytist, n. 1814–62
6. zoophytography, n. 1735–1905
7. zoophytoid, adj. 1854–83
8. zoophytological, adj. 1823–
9. zoophytologist, n. 1835–
10. zoophytology, n. 1815–
11. zoophyton, n.1601–
12. zooplankter, n. 1935–
13. zooplanktivore, n. 1972–
14. zooplanktivorous, adj. 1971–
15. zooplankton, n. 1897–
16. zooplanktonic, adj. 1912–
17. zooplastic, adj. a1855–
18. zoopraxinoscope, n. 1889–
19. zoopraxiscope, n. 1881–
20. zoopraxography, n. 1891–
21. zoopsychology, n. 1847–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Latin.
Etymon: Latin zoophyton.
< post-classical Latin zoophyton (15th cent.) < Hellenistic Greek ζῳόϕυτον plant < ancient Greek ζῳο- zoo- comb. form + ϕυτόν plant (see phyto- comb. form and compare ‑phyte comb. form).

In quot. 1601 after French zoophyte (see zoophyte n.…
< post-classical Latin zoophyton (15th cent.) < Hellenistic Greek ζῳόϕυτον plant < ancient Greek ζῳο- zoo- comb. form + ϕυτόν plant (see phyto- comb. form and compare ‑phyte comb. form).

In quot. 1601 after French zoophyte (see zoophyte n.).

Compare slightly later zoophyte n. (slightly earlier with sense 2).

### Notes

The plural form zoophyta reflects the plural forms of the respective Greek and Latin words. In the former group name Zoophyta after scientific Latin Zoophyta (Linnaeus Systema Naturae (1735)).
The use of zoophyta with singular agreement in quot. 1601 may show a reinterpretation after Latin feminine singular forms in ‑a.

## Meaning & use

Biology. Now historical.

1. 1.
   1601–
   Originally: an animal thought to resemble or have certain characteristics of a plant or flower. In later use (usually in plural): spec. any animal belonging to the (former) group Zoophyta, comprising certain sessile invertebrate animals, typically with a branching or radiating structure, such as crinoids, hydrozoans, sponges, and bryozoans. Cf. zoophyte n. 1.
   Also called animal flower, animal plant, phytozoon, plant-animal.
   1. 1601

      > The Zoophyta [French le Zoophyte] partaketh of the plant and animal.

      R. Dolman, translation of P. de la Primaudaye, French Academie vol. III. 67
   2. 1635

      > Mid creatures which wee call Zoophyta, and Plantanimalia.

      D. Person, Varieties i. 39
   3. 1651

      > The Zeophyton [sic; Latin zoophytum] (i.e.) half Aniamll [sic], and half Plant.

      J. F., translation of H. C. Agrippa, Three Books of Occult Philosophy i. xxxvii. 74
   4. 1682

      > To blame her [sc. Providence] for making Zoophiton's, or rather Amphibion's.

      H. More, Annot. Lux Orientalis 53 in Two Choice & Useful Treatises
   5. 1744

      > A Zoophyton, somewhat resembling the Flower of the Marigold.

      Philosophical Transactions 1742–3 (Royal Society) vol. 42 590
   6. 1787

      > Zoophyta. These are..said to resemble a flower, and to spring from a vegetating stem.

      R. Kentish, Ess. Method of studying Natural History 89
   7. 1855

      > The innumerable tribes of zoophyta, mollusca, and other [in]vertebrata.

      J. Phillips, Manual of Geology 46
   8. 1879

      > This zoophyton was found on the side of a small mountain brook of Ootacamund, in the water.

      Gardeners' Chronicle 28 June 816/3
   9. 1928

      > As we cannot even say where plants and animals begin, since the ‘zoophyta’ forms are so similar to both, we cannot tell in which division to place them.

      E. Hawks, Pioneers of Plant Study viii. 57
   10. 1957

       > He mentions 128 types of animal life which fall into the following categories: Zoophyta, Worms, Crustacea, Insecta, Arachnida, Mollusca, Fishes, Amphibia, Reptilia, Birds, Mammals.

       Journal Hist. Med. Allied Science vol. 12 106
   11. 2009

       > Some saw in the zoophyta evidence that there was no essential difference between plants and animals.

       J. Sapp, New Found. Evolution p. xii
   invertebrates historical
   1. sensitive plant 1601–58
      A living organism, esp. a sessile aquatic invertebrate, classed as intermediate between animals and plants or thought to share qualities of both…
   2. zoophyton 1601–
      Originally: an animal thought to resemble or have certain characteristics of a plant or flower. In later use (usually in plural): spec. any animal…
   3. zoophyte 1606–
      Originally: an animal thought to resemble or have certain characteristics of a plant or flower. In later use: spec. any animal belonging to the…
   4. plant-animal 1621–
      An organism which has characteristics of both an animal and a plant. In early use: †a plant which is supposed to resemble an animal in some…
   5. animal plant 1736–1846
      A sedentary aquatic invertebrate; a zoophyte.
   6. phytozoon 1842–
      Zoology. A zoophyte; an individual polyp of a zoophyte. Formerly: spec. an animal of a taxonomic division Phytozoa, which included some or all of…
   7. zoothome 1872–
      A group of individual coral polyps living in a colony; cf. zoophyte, n. 1.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
2. 2.
   1627–1790
   † A plant thought to resemble an animal or to have certain certain qualities characteristic of animals, esp. a sensitive plant (sensitive plant n. 1b) or vegetable lamb (vegetable lamb n.). Cf. zoophyte n. 2. Obsolete.
   Also called plant-animal.
   1. 1627

      > Zoophyta, or plants resembling liuing creatures (as the Mandrage resembling a man, the hearbe called the scythian lambe, resembling a lambe) are a middle betwixt animals and plants.

      J. Weemes, Pourtraiture Image of God in Man i. v. 49
   2. 1653

      > The sensative Plant, and other Zoophyta.

      W. Harvey, Anatomical Exercitations xvii. 95
   3. 1695

      > A species call'd Boranetz, i.e. the little Lamb, by the Natives, and by others Zoophyton, or the Animal Plant, which in shape resembles a Lamb.., and is cover'd with a downy or woolly skin.

      Thes. Geographicus 358/2
   4. ?1790

      > Among other vegetables we find here..in the neighbourhood of Astracan, the celebrated zoophyton.

      N. Wyndham, Trav. through Europe vol. III. 58
   life sciences historical

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzuː(ə)fʌɪtən/
ZOO-uh-figh-tuhn
/ˌzuː(ə)ˈfʌɪtən/
zoo-uh-FIGH-tuhn
/ˈzəʊəfʌɪtən/
ZOH-uh-figh-tuhn
/ˌzəʊəˈfʌɪtən/
zoh-uh-FIGH-tuhn

### U.S. English

/ˈzoʊəˌfaɪdən/
ZOH-uh-figh-duhn
/ˌzoʊəˈfaɪdən/
zoh-uh-FIGH-duhn
/ˈzu(ə)ˌfaɪdən/
ZOO-uh-figh-duhn
/ˌzu(ə)ˈfaɪdən/
zoo-uh-FIGH-duhn

###
Plural: zoophyta

### British English

/ˈzuː(ə)fʌɪtə/
ZOO-uh-figh-tuh
/ˌzuː(ə)ˈfʌɪtə/
zoo-uh-FIGH-tuh
/ˈzəʊəfʌɪtə/
ZOH-uh-figh-tuh
/ˌzəʊəˈfʌɪtə/
zoh-uh-FIGH-tuh

### U.S. English

/ˈzoʊəˌfaɪdə/
ZOH-uh-figh-duh
/ˌzoʊəˈfaɪdə/
zoh-uh-FIGH-duh
/ˈzu(ə)ˌfaɪdə/
ZOO-uh-figh-duh
/ˌzu(ə)ˈfaɪdə/
zoo-uh-FIGH-duh

####

##### 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 /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.

##### 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 /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### 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

### Inflections

Plural: zoophyta ( British English /ˈzuː(ə)fʌɪtə/ (ZOO-uh-figh-tuh) , /ˌzuː(ə)ˈfʌɪtə/ (zoo-uh-FIGH-tuh) , /ˈzəʊəfʌɪtə/ (ZOH-uh-figh-tuh) , /ˌzəʊəˈfʌɪtə/ (zoh-uh-FIGH-tuh) , U.S. English /ˈzoʊəˌfaɪdə/ (ZOH-uh-figh-duh) , /ˌzoʊəˈfaɪdə/ (zoh-uh-FIGH-duh) , /ˈzu(ə)ˌfaɪdə/ (ZOO-uh-figh-duh) , /ˌzu(ə)ˈfaɪdə/ (zoo-uh-FIGH-duh) )

### Variant forms

1. 1600s
   zoophiton, zoophyta (singular)
2. 1600s–
   zoophyton (now rare)
3. 1800s–1900s
   zoöphyta (plural)

## Frequency

zoophyton typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zoophyton 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 data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zoophyton, n., 1770–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1770 | 0.012
1780 | 0.013
1790 | 0.012
1800 | 0.017
1810 | 0.018
1820 | 0.023
1830 | 0.021
1840 | 0.019
1850 | 0.017
1860 | 0.016
1870 | 0.01
1880 | 0.0079
1890 | 0.0031
1900 | 0.0023
1910 | 0.0006
1920 | 0.0005
1930 | 0.0006
1940 | 0.0004
1950 | 0.0003
1960 | 0.0003
1970 | 0.0002
1980 | 0.0002
1990 | 0.0002
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0002

zoophyton, n. was first published in June 2017.

zoophyton, n. was last modified in September 2024.