zetetics, n.

zetetics
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zetetics_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# zeteticsnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zetetics mean?

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

### How common is the noun zetetics?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1880 | 0.00001
1890 | 0.00002
1900 | 0.00001
1910 | 0.00001
1920 | 0.0001
1930 | 0.0002
1940 | 0.0002
1950 | 0.0002
1960 | 0.0003
1970 | 0.0003
1980 | 0.0004
1990 | 0.0003
2000 | 0.0003
2010 | 0.0002

### How is the noun zetetics pronounced?

#### British English

/zᵻˈtɛtɪks/
zuh-TET-iks

#### U.S. English

/zəˈtɛdɪks/
zuh-TED-iks

### Where does the noun zetetics come from?

Earliest known use

1840s

The earliest known use of the noun zetetics is in the 1840s.

OED's earliest evidence for zetetics is from 1843, in Penny Cyclopaedia.

zetetics is a variant or alteration of another lexical item.

Etymons: zetetic n.

### Nearby entries

1. zeta, n.¹?a1425–
2. zeta, n.² 1706–1860
3. zetacism, n. 1860–
4. zeta function, n. 1879–
5. zeta-ic, adj. 1840–1927
6. zeta potential, n. 1927–
7. zetetic, adj. & n. 1645–
8. zetetical, adj. & n. 1646–
9. zetetically, adv. 1665–
10. Zetetical Society, n. 1881–
11. zetetics, n.1843–
12. Zetland, n. 1577–
13. Zetlander, n. 1614–
14. Zetlandic, adj. 1701–
15. zetta-, comb. form
16. Zeuglodon, n. 1839–
17. zeuglodont, n. & adj. 1850–
18. zeuglodontoid, adj. & n. 1891
19. zeugma, n. c1450–
20. zeugmatic, adj. 1851–
21. zeugmatical, adj. 1610–

## Etymology

### Summary

A variant or alteration of another lexical item.
Etymon: zetetic n.
< zetetic n. (compare sense B.2 at that entry, and see ‑ic suffix 2).

## Meaning & use

Mathematics. rare and now only in historical contexts.

1. 1843–
   The study of mathematical problems by expressing them in terms of equations and solving these algebraically, according to certain laws first specified by French mathematician François Viète (1540–1603).
   Zetetics, together with Viète's system for denoting both variables and constants by letters, represented a significant development in the systematic study and application of algebra.
   1. 1843

      > Zetetics, a name given by Vieta..to the part of algebra which consists in the direct search after unknown quantities.

      Penny Cyclopaedia vol. XXVII. 775/2
   2. 1969

      > The term ‘zetetics’ never became popular.

      Source Book Math., 1200–1800 ii. 75
   3. 2001

      > Zetetics was the art of translating a problem, be it an arithmetical or a geometrical one, into one or more algebraic equations.

      H. J. M. Bos, Redefining Geom. Exactness viii. 146
   mathematics

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zᵻˈtɛtɪks/
zuh-TET-iks

### U.S. English

/zəˈtɛdɪks/
zuh-TED-iks

####

##### 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

## Frequency

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

zetetics is in frequency band 1, which contains words occurring fewer than 0.001 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 zetetics, n., 1880–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1880 | 0.00001
1890 | 0.00002
1900 | 0.00001
1910 | 0.00001
1920 | 0.0001
1930 | 0.0002
1940 | 0.0002
1950 | 0.0002
1960 | 0.0003
1970 | 0.0003
1980 | 0.0004
1990 | 0.0003
2000 | 0.0003
2010 | 0.0002

Originally published as part of the entry for zetetic, adj. & n.

zetetics, n. was revised in June 2018.

zetetics, n. was last modified in July 2023.