zoolater, n.

zoolater
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoolater_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2017

# zoolaternoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zoolater mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zoolater. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How is the noun zoolater pronounced?

#### British English

/zuːˈɒlətə/
zoo-OL-uh-tuh
/zəʊˈɒlətə/
zoh-OL-uh-tuh

#### U.S. English

/zuˈɑlədər/
zoo-AH-luh-duhr
/zoʊˈɑlədər/
zoh-AH-luh-duhr

### Where does the noun zoolater come from?

Earliest known use

1870s

The earliest known use of the noun zoolater is in the 1870s.

OED's earliest evidence for zoolater is from 1876, in a dictionary by F. E. A. Gasc.

zoolater is formed within English, by compounding; originally modelled on a French lexical item.

Etymons: zoo- comb. form, ‑later comb. form.

### Nearby entries

1. zoography, n. 1593–
2. zoogyroscope, n. 1880–
3. zooid, n. 1851–
4. zooid, adj. 1849
5. zooidal, adj. 1858–
6. zooidogamous, adj. 1891–
7. zookeeper, n. 1886–
8. zookeeping, n. 1929–
9. Zookers, int. 1620–
10. Zooks, int. 1600–
11. zoolater, n.1876–
12. zoolatrous, adj. 1876–
13. zoolatry, n. 1784–
14. zoolite, n. 1768–
15. zoologer, n. 1663–
16. zoologic, adj. 1766–
17. zoological, adj. & n. 1686–
18. zoological garden, n. 1827–
19. zoologically, adv. 1799–
20. zoologico-, comb. form
21. zoologico-archaeologist, n. 1864

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by compounding; originally modelled on a French lexical item.
Etymons: zoo- comb. form, ‑later comb. form.
< zoo- comb. form + ‑later comb. form, originally after French zoolâtre (1852 or earlier).

Compare earlier zoolatry n.

## Meaning & use

1. 1876–
   A person who worships animals. Also hyperbolically: a person who is extremely or excessively fond of animals. Cf. zoolatry n.
   1. 1876

      > Zoolâtre, zoolater, zoolatress.

      F. E. A. Gasc, Dictionary French & English Language (new edition) 580/2
   2. 1880

      > Enthusiastic zoölaters, who desire to abolish the objective method of teaching physiology.

      Nature 30 September 517/2
   3. 1886

      > The Navajos then are zoölaters; that is..they worship the lower animals.

      American Naturalist October 850
   4. 1914

      > Everyone except an occasional zoölater grants that the world is not large enough now both for them [sc. foxes and rabbits] and for us.

      Unpop. Review October 344
   5. 1987

      > The Egyptians remained the zoolaters par excellence.

      F. Schmidt, Inconceivable Polytheism 13
   6. 1994

      > The stock of concepts that the Europeans used to understand the other was pathetically poor: ‘heathens’ or..‘zoolaters’.

      S. N. Balagangadhara, Heathen in Blindness 111
   religion
   1. zoolater 1876–
      A person who worships animals. Also hyperbolically: a person who is extremely or excessively fond of animals. Cf. zoolatry, n.
   2. zootheist 1879–
      A person who worships or venerates animals; cf. zootheism, n.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zuːˈɒlətə/
zoo-OL-uh-tuh
/zəʊˈɒlətə/
zoh-OL-uh-tuh

### U.S. English

/zuˈɑlədər/
zoo-AH-luh-duhr
/zoʊˈɑlədər/
zoh-AH-luh-duhr

####

##### 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

### Variant forms

See zoo- comb. form and ‑later comb. form.

Originally published as part of the entry for zoolatry, n.

zoolater, n. was revised in June 2017.

zoolater, n. was last modified in March 2024.