zoism, n.

zoism
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoism_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# zoismnoun

## Earlier version

- zoism in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zoism mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zoism. 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 zoism?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1840 | 0.0007
1850 | 0.0009
1860 | 0.0008
1870 | 0.0009
1880 | 0.0009
1890 | 0.0009
1900 | 0.0009
1910 | 0.0009
1920 | 0.0008
1930 | 0.0008
1940 | 0.0006
1950 | 0.0005
1960 | 0.0004
1970 | 0.0004
1980 | 0.0003
1990 | 0.0003
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0002

### How is the noun zoism pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzəʊɪz(ə)m/

### Where does the noun zoism come from?

Earliest known use

1900s

The earliest known use of the noun zoism is in the 1900s.

OED's only evidence for zoism is from 1900.

zoism is a borrowing from Greek, combined with an English element.

Etymons: Greek ζωή, ‑ism suffix.

### Nearby entries

1. zoid, adj. 1864–
2. zoidiophilous, adj. 1872–
3. zoidogamous, adj. 1899–
4. Zoilean, adj. 1846–
5. Zoilism, n. 1609–
6. Zoilist, n. 1594–
7. Zoilitical, adj. 1665
8. Zoilous, adj. 1577–
9. Zoilus, n. 1565–
10. zoisite, n. 1805–
11. zoism, n.1900–
12. zoist, n. 1843–
13. zoistic, adj. 1849–
14. zoite, n. 1963–
15. -zoite, comb. form
16. zol, n. 1946–
17. Zolaesque, adj. 1886–
18. Zolaism, n. 1882–
19. Zolaist, n. 1886–
20. Zolaize, v. 1886–
21. Zollinger–Ellison syndrome, n. 1956–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Greek, combined with an English element.
Etymons: Greek ζωή, ‑ism suffix.
< Greek ζωή life + ‑ism suffix.

## Meaning & use

1. 1900–
   The doctrine that life depends on a peculiar vital principle, and is not a mere resultant of combined forces; esp. in connection with ‘animal magnetism’ and the like.
   1. 1900

      > Psychic Research Co.'s Course of Instruction in Personal Magnetism, Series A: Mind Reading, Hypnotism, Magnetic Healing, and Zoism.

      (title)
   1. odology 1851
      The branch of science that deals with the hypothetical force called Od (Od, n.²).
   2. odylism 1853–89
      The doctrine of odyl or Od; practices and beliefs relating to or involving Od.
   3. zoism 1900–
      The doctrine that life depends on a peculiar vital principle, and is not a mere resultant of combined forces; esp. in connection with ‘animal…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzəʊɪz(ə)m/

####

##### 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.

## Frequency

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

zoism 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 zoism, 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 | 0.0007
1850 | 0.0009
1860 | 0.0008
1870 | 0.0009
1880 | 0.0009
1890 | 0.0009
1900 | 0.0009
1910 | 0.0009
1920 | 0.0008
1930 | 0.0008
1940 | 0.0006
1950 | 0.0005
1960 | 0.0004
1970 | 0.0004
1980 | 0.0003
1990 | 0.0003
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0002

zoism, n. was first published in 1921; not fully revised.

zoism, n. was last modified in December 2024.