zygite, n.

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

# zygitenoun

## Earlier version

- zygite in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zygite mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zygite. 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 zygite?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1880 | 0.0076
1890 | 0.0061
1900 | 0.0054
1910 | 0.0047
1920 | 0.0037
1930 | 0.0007
1940 | 0.001
1950 | 0.001
1960 | 0.0012
1970 | 0.0009
1980 | 0.001
1990 | 0.0009
2000 | 0.0009
2010 | 0.0006

### How is the noun zygite pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzʌɪdʒʌɪt/

### Where does the noun zygite come from?

Earliest known use

1880s

The earliest known use of the noun zygite is in the 1880s.

OED's only evidence for zygite is from 1888, in the writing of W. B. Woodgate.

zygite is a borrowing from Greek.

Etymons: Greek ζυγίτης.

### Nearby entries

1. zwitterionic, adj. 1946–
2. Zydeco, n. 1949–
3. zygadite, n. 1861–
4. zygaena, n. 1717–
5. zygaenid, n. & adj. 1913–
6. zygaenidan, n. 1837–
7. zygal, adj. 1886–
8. zygantrum, n. 1854–
9. zygapophysial, adj. 1870–
10. zygapophysis, n. 1854–
11. zygite, n.1888–
12. zygnemaceous, adj.
13. zygnemid, n. 1887–
14. zygnomic, adj. 1926–
15. zygo-, comb. form
16. zygobranchiate, adj. 1883–
17. zygocactus, n. 1950–
18. zygocardiac, adj. 1877–
19. zygodactyl, adj. & n. 1831–
20. zygodactylic, adj. 1835–
21. zygodactylous, adj. 1828–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Greek.
Etymon: Greek ζυγίτης.
< Greek ζυγίτης, < ζυγόν: see zygon n. 2 and ‑ite suffix1.

## Meaning & use

Ancient Greek History.

1. 1888–
   In the ancient bireme or trireme, a rower of the upper or the middle tier: cf. thalamite n., thranite n.
   1. 1888

      > In the bireme the zygite, as he sat on his bench, had behind him and below him his thalamite.

      W. B. Woodgate, Boating (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) i. 17
   ancient Greek history nautical
   1. thranite 1842–
      In the ancient trireme, a rower in one of the tiers, as generally supposed, the uppermost tier, which had the longest oars and hardest work; but the…
   2. thalamite 1886–
      In the ancient trireme, a rower in one of the tiers of rowers, generally supposed to be that which occupied the lowest bench; but the actual…
   3. zygite 1888–
      In the ancient bireme or trireme, a rower of the upper or the middle tier: cf. thalamite, n., thranite, n.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzʌɪdʒʌɪt/

####

##### 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.

## Frequency

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

zygite 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 zygite, 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 | 0.0076
1890 | 0.0061
1900 | 0.0054
1910 | 0.0047
1920 | 0.0037
1930 | 0.0007
1940 | 0.001
1950 | 0.001
1960 | 0.0012
1970 | 0.0009
1980 | 0.001
1990 | 0.0009
2000 | 0.0009
2010 | 0.0006

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

zygite, n. was last modified in December 2024.