zoidnoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zoid mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zoid. 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 zoid?
| 1850 | 0.0039 |
| 1860 | 0.0043 |
| 1870 | 0.0047 |
| 1880 | 0.005 |
| 1890 | 0.036 |
| 1900 | 0.051 |
| 1910 | 0.088 |
| 1920 | 0.09 |
| 1930 | 0.091 |
| 1940 | 0.094 |
| 1950 | 0.095 |
| 1960 | 0.065 |
| 1970 | 0.049 |
| 1980 | 0.013 |
| 1990 | 0.011 |
| 2000 | 0.011 |
| 2010 | 0.0067 |
How is the noun zoid pronounced?
British English
Where does the noun zoid come from?
Earliest known use
1850s
The earliest known use of the noun zoid is in the 1850s.
OED's earliest evidence for zoid is from 1856, in the writing of Samuel Woodward, naturalist and palaeontologist.
zoid is a borrowing from Greek, combined with an English element.
Etymons: Greek ζῷον, ‑id suffix2.
Nearby entries
- zoea, n.1828–
- zoeal, adj.?1870–
- zoetrope, n.1866–
- zographer, n.1570
- zography, n.1570
- zograscope, n.1753–
- Zohar, n.1682–
- zoic, adj.1863–
- -zoic, comb. form¹
- -zoic, comb. form²
- zoid, n.1856–
- zoid, adj.1864–
- zoidiophilous, adj.1872–
- zoidogamous, adj.1899–
- Zoilean, adj.1846–
- Zoilism, n.1609–
- Zoilist, n.1594–
- Zoilitical, adj.1665
- Zoilous, adj.1577–
- Zoilus, n.1565–
- zoisite, n.1805–
Etymology
Meaning & use
- 1856–= zooid n.
- 1856
In one group [of Tunicata] the individuals..become blended into a common mass... The separate individuals of these composite masses are termed Zoïds.
S. P. Woodward, Manual of Mollusca iii. 336 - 1875
Many zoids or buds being attached in line.
Encyclopædia Britannica vol. II. 69/1 - 1960
Most algae, excluding the Cyanophyta, reproduce sexually by gametes and asexually by spores of various kinds (collectively called ‘zoids’, except for aplanospores).
Botanical Gazette vol. 122 33/1 - 1981
Subterminal ovicell complexes bud distally from part of the complex and are generally composed of female zoid with ovicell, lateral zoid, and ovicell zoid with apical chamber.
Australian Journal Zoology vol. 29 365
- zoonite1838–A body segment of an articulated or segmented animal, esp. such a segment regarded as a distinct organism; a metamere or somite. Cf. zonite, n.…
- zooid1851–An organism or (esp. in early use) motile cell thought to resemble an animal but not to be one in a strict or full sense; esp. an invertebrate…
- zoon1851–1905A distinct organism (whether a single entity, as in vertebrates, or a colonial form consisting of zooids) regarded as being the whole product of a…
- zoid1856–= zooid, n.
the world life biology balance of nature organisms in interrelationship [nouns] aggregate or colony individual of- individual1746–Zoology. Each of the distinct beings which make up a colonial organism, and which typically have different forms and functions. Cf. person, n. III.9.
- zoonite1838–A body segment of an articulated or segmented animal, esp. such a segment regarded as a distinct organism; a metamere or somite. Cf. zonite, n.…
- zooid1851–An organism or (esp. in early use) motile cell thought to resemble an animal but not to be one in a strict or full sense; esp. an invertebrate…
- zoon1851–1905A distinct organism (whether a single entity, as in vertebrates, or a colonial form consisting of zooids) regarded as being the whole product of a…
- zoid1856–= zooid, n.
- allozooid1857–61A detached vegetative bud or zooid which is different in form from its parent animal.
- person1876–Zoology. Each of the individual zooids of a colonial organism. Now rare.
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.
Frequency
zoid typically occurs about 0.02 times per million words in modern written English.
zoid is in frequency band 3, which contains words occurring between 0.01 and 0.1 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of zoid, n., 1850–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1850 | 0.0039 |
| 1860 | 0.0043 |
| 1870 | 0.0047 |
| 1880 | 0.005 |
| 1890 | 0.036 |
| 1900 | 0.051 |
| 1910 | 0.088 |
| 1920 | 0.09 |
| 1930 | 0.091 |
| 1940 | 0.094 |
| 1950 | 0.095 |
| 1960 | 0.065 |
| 1970 | 0.049 |
| 1980 | 0.013 |
| 1990 | 0.011 |
| 2000 | 0.011 |
| 2010 | 0.0067 |
Compounds & derived words
- anthozooid, adj. & n. 1851–A polyp; spec. an individual polyp of a colonial…
- sporozoid, n. 1882–
- zoidogamous, adj. 1899–= zooidogamous, adj.