zoothome, n.

zoothome
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoothome_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2017

# zoothomenoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zoothome mean?

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

### How is the noun zoothome pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzuː(ə)θəʊm/
ZOO-uh-thohm
/ˈzəʊəθəʊm/
ZOH-uh-thohm

#### U.S. English

/ˈzoʊəˌθoʊm/
ZOH-uh-thohm
/ˈzu(ə)ˌθoʊm/
ZOO-uh-thohm

### Where does the noun zoothome come from?

Earliest known use

1870s

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

OED's earliest evidence for zoothome is from 1872, in the writing of James Dana, geologist, zoologist, and teacher.

### Nearby entries

1. zoot, n. 1942–
2. zootaxy, n. 1833–
3. zootechnic, adj. 1861–
4. zootechnics, n. 1863–
5. zootechny, n. 1841–
6. zootheca, n. 1852–
7. zoothecium, n. 1880–
8. zootheism, n. 1879–
9. zootheist, n. 1879–
10. zootheistic, adj. 1879–
11. zoothome, n.1872–
12. zootic, adj. 1816–
13. zootokon, n. 1661
14. zootomic, adj. 1801–
15. zootomical, adj. 1799–
16. zootomically, adv. 1849–
17. zootomist, n. 1663–
18. zootomy, n. 1663–
19. zootoxin, n. 1906–
20. zootrophy, n. 1877–
21. zoot suit, n. 1942–

## Etymology

< zoo- comb. form + ancient Greek θωμός heap (< the same Indo-European base as doom n.).

## Meaning & use

Now rare.

1. 1872–
   A group of individual coral polyps living in a colony; cf. zoophyte n. 1.
   1. 1872

      > The compound mass produced by budding..was called..a Zoöphyte. As a substitute the term Zoöthome may be employed.

      J. D. Dana, Corals & Coral Islands i. 48
   2. 1882

      > The beauty of a fine zoothome (that is, a number of coral polyps on a branch of coral), fully expanded.., is almost indescribable.

      American Monthly Microscopical Journal vol. 3 221/1
   3. 1963

      > Zoothome, any group of individuals in a living coral.

      I. F. Henderson & W. D. Henderson, Dictionary of Biological Terms (ed. 8) 637/2
   invertebrates
   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

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzuː(ə)θəʊm/
ZOO-uh-thohm
/ˈzəʊəθəʊm/
ZOH-uh-thohm

### U.S. English

/ˈzoʊəˌθoʊm/
ZOH-uh-thohm
/ˈzu(ə)ˌθoʊm/
ZOO-uh-thohm

####

##### 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

Originally published as part of the entry for zoo-, comb. form

zoo-, comb. form was revised in June 2017.