zygocactusnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zygocactus mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zygocactus. 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 zygocactus?
| 1950 | 0.0004 |
| 1960 | 0.0004 |
| 1970 | 0.0005 |
| 1980 | 0.0005 |
| 1990 | 0.0005 |
| 2000 | 0.0005 |
| 2010 | 0.0004 |
How is the noun zygocactus pronounced?
British English
Where does the noun zygocactus come from?
Earliest known use
1950s
The earliest known use of the noun zygocactus is in the 1950s.
OED's earliest evidence for zygocactus is from 1950, in the writing of V. Higgins.
zygocactus is a borrowing from Latin.
Nearby entries
- zygal, adj.1886–
- zygantrum, n.1854–
- zygapophysial, adj.1870–
- zygapophysis, n.1854–
- zygite, n.1888–
- zygnemaceous, adj.
- zygnemid, n.1887–
- zygnomic, adj.1926–
- zygo-, comb. form
- zygobranchiate, adj.1883–
- zygocactus, n.1950–
- zygocardiac, adj.1877–
- zygodactyl, adj. & n.1831–
- zygodactylic, adj.1835–
- zygodactylous, adj.1828–
- zygodont, adj.1888–
- zygogenesis, n.1950–
- zygology, n.1970–
- zygoma, n.1684–
- zygomatic, adj. & n.1712–
- zygomatico-, comb. form
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1950–Any cactus of the Brazilian genus Zygocactus (sometimes included in Schlumbergera), the members of which have branched and jointed stems bearing zygomorphic flowers in various shades of red, and are frequently grown as houseplants.
- 1950
Two other Epiphyllums which have been much cultivated are now placed in Schlumbergera—Schlumbergera Gaertneri and S. Russelliana; both are similar in habit to Zygocactus but the flowers are regular.
V. Higgins, Cactus Grower's Guide iv. 54 - 1962
Zygocactus should be watered throughout the year.
Amateur Gardening 24 March 29/1 - 1980
Among the new plants on show are..zygocactus in pastel colours with a future as room plants, from Rochford.
Daily Telegraph 24 September 14/5
the world plants particular plants cultivated or valued plants particular cultivated or ornamental plants foliage, house, or garden plants [nouns] ornamental cacti- Rochea1819–A genus of southern African succulent plants of the family Crassulaceae (now usually included in Crassula), which have leathery leaves and…
- echeveria1840–A handsome genus of succulent plants allied to the house-leek (family Crassulaceæ), extensively used in carpet gardening.
- snake plant1883–a. (See quot. 1883); b. = mother-in-law's tongue, n.
- zygocactus1950–Any cactus of the Brazilian genus Zygocactus (sometimes included in Schlumbergera), the members of which have branched and jointed stems bearing…
- A tropical African plant, Sansevieria trifasciata (family Dracaenaceae), which has a rosette of long, sword-shaped leaves and is often cultivated as…
Pronunciation
British 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.
Forms
Variant forms
Also Zygocactus.Frequency
zygocactus typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zygocactus 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 zygocactus, n., 1950–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1950 | 0.0004 |
| 1960 | 0.0004 |
| 1970 | 0.0005 |
| 1980 | 0.0005 |
| 1990 | 0.0005 |
| 2000 | 0.0005 |
| 2010 | 0.0004 |