zymosisnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zymosis mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zymosis. 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 zymosis?
| 1840 | 0.018 |
| 1850 | 0.023 |
| 1860 | 0.022 |
| 1870 | 0.02 |
| 1880 | 0.019 |
| 1890 | 0.018 |
| 1900 | 0.014 |
| 1910 | 0.011 |
| 1920 | 0.0052 |
| 1930 | 0.0031 |
| 1940 | 0.0023 |
| 1950 | 0.002 |
| 1960 | 0.0016 |
| 1970 | 0.0015 |
| 1980 | 0.0015 |
| 1990 | 0.0016 |
| 2000 | 0.0016 |
| 2010 | 0.0017 |
How is the noun zymosis pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zymosis come from?
Earliest known use
1840s
The earliest known use of the noun zymosis is in the 1840s.
OED's earliest evidence for zymosis is from 1842, in the writing of W. Farr.
zymosis is a borrowing from Latin.
Nearby entries
- zymolysis, n.1890–
- zymolytic, adj.1890–
- zymome, n.1820–31
- zymometer, n.1842–
- zymophore, adj.1900–
- zymophoric, adj.1902–
- zymophyte, n.1890–
- zymosan, n.1943–
- zymoscope, n.1868–
- zymosimeter, n.1704–
- zymosis, n.1842–
- zymotechnic, adj.1896–
- zymotechnical, adj.1900–
- zymotechnologist, n.1896–
- zymotechny, n.1860–
- zymotic, adj. & n.1842–
- zymotoxic, adj.1902–
- zymurgy, n.1868–
- Zyrian, n. & adj.1886–
- zythum, n.1608–
- Zyzzyva, n.1922–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1842–Fermentation; spec. the morbid process which constitutes a zymotic disease, regarded as analogous to or involving fermentation.
- 1842
Zymosis fermentation, and zyma ferment, may also be employed in English, not in the sense which they have in Greek, but as general designations of the morbid processes and their exciters.
W. Farr in 4th Annual Rep. Registrar-Gen. Births, Deaths, & Marriages Eng. 201 (note) - 1842
Some..kinds of matter (zymin) are reproduced in the organization after they have been destroyed by transformation (zymosis) in attacks of disease.
W. Farr in 4th Annual Rep. Registrar-Gen. Births, Deaths, & Marriages Eng. 202 - 1876
As all fermentations are correlative of the growth and multiplication of these minute bodies, carbolic acid, by destroying their activity, arrests zymosis.
R. Bartholow, Practical Treatise on Materia Medica iii. 485
figurative- 1876
In the Elizabethan Age there was a dramatic zymosis, when all the genius ran in that direction.
R. W. Emerson, Eloquence in Works (1906) vol. III. 195
the world health ill health a disease, disorder, condition, etc. production of disease [nouns] infection- infectinga1398–The action of infect, v., in various senses; infection.
- corruptionc1430–1598Infection, infected condition; also figurative contagion, taint. Obsolete.
- infection1548–The transmission, communication, or (esp. in early use) acquisition of (a) disease; spec. transmission of a disease or its causative agent by…
- infecture1580–The action of infecting; infection.
- contamination1599–The action of contaminating, or condition of being contaminated; defilement, pollution, infection. literal (spec. the presence of radioactivity where…
- smittling1625–Contagion, infection.
- zymosis1842–Fermentation; spec. the morbid process which constitutes a zymotic disease, regarded as analogous to or involving fermentation.
- autoinfection1871–Reinfection with an agent that remains in the body after causing a previous infection; esp. reinfection with a second or subsequent generation of…
- mouth infection1903–Transmission of disease via the mouth; (also) an infection of the mouth.
Pronunciation
British English
U.S. 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.
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
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
Plural zymoses /-siːz/ .Frequency
zymosis typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zymosis is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of zymosis, 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 | 0.018 |
| 1850 | 0.023 |
| 1860 | 0.022 |
| 1870 | 0.02 |
| 1880 | 0.019 |
| 1890 | 0.018 |
| 1900 | 0.014 |
| 1910 | 0.011 |
| 1920 | 0.0052 |
| 1930 | 0.0031 |
| 1940 | 0.0023 |
| 1950 | 0.002 |
| 1960 | 0.0016 |
| 1970 | 0.0015 |
| 1980 | 0.0015 |
| 1990 | 0.0016 |
| 2000 | 0.0016 |
| 2010 | 0.0017 |