zymogenous, adj.

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

# zymogenousadjective

## Factsheet

### What does the adjective zymogenous mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective zymogenous. 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 adjective zymogenous?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1870 | 0.0009
1880 | 0.0012
1890 | 0.0026
1900 | 0.0027
1910 | 0.0031
1920 | 0.0035
1930 | 0.004
1940 | 0.0046
1950 | 0.0049
1960 | 0.004
1970 | 0.0037
1980 | 0.0036
1990 | 0.0033
2000 | 0.0031
2010 | 0.0028

### Where does the adjective zymogenous come from?

Earliest known use

1870s

The earliest known use of the adjective zymogenous is in the 1870s.

### Nearby entries

1. zyme, n. 1882–
2. zymic, adj. 1817–26
3. zymin, n. 1842–
4. zyminized, adj. 1888–
5. zymo-, comb. form
6. zymocyte, n. a1909–
7. zymodeme, n. 1978–
8. zymogen, n. 1877–
9. zymogenetic, adj. 1896–
10. zymogenic, adj. 1884–
11. zymogenous, adj.1877–
12. zymogluconate, n. 1887–
13. zymogluconic, adj. 1886–
14. zymogram, n. 1957–
15. zymohydrolysis, n. 1903–
16. zymoid, adj. & n. 1891–
17. zymological, adj. 1828–
18. zymologist, n. 1828–
19. zymology, n. 1753–
20. zymolysis, n. 1890–
21. zymolytic, adj. 1890–

## Meaning & use

Biochemistry.

1. 1877–
   Producing a ferment, or causing fermentation.
   Stressed as zyˈmogenous.
   organic chemistry

## Frequency

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

zymogenous 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 data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zymogenous, adj., 1870–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1870 | 0.0009
1880 | 0.0012
1890 | 0.0026
1900 | 0.0027
1910 | 0.0031
1920 | 0.0035
1930 | 0.004
1940 | 0.0046
1950 | 0.0049
1960 | 0.004
1970 | 0.0037
1980 | 0.0036
1990 | 0.0033
2000 | 0.0031
2010 | 0.0028

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

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