zygonemanoun
Factsheet
What does the noun zygonema mean?
There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun zygonema. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, 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 zygonema?
| 1910 | 0.002 |
| 1920 | 0.0021 |
| 1930 | 0.0032 |
| 1940 | 0.004 |
| 1950 | 0.0048 |
| 1960 | 0.0049 |
| 1970 | 0.0048 |
| 1980 | 0.0052 |
| 1990 | 0.0056 |
| 2000 | 0.0051 |
| 2010 | 0.0041 |
How is the noun zygonema pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the noun zygonema come from?
Earliest known use
1910s
The earliest known use of the noun zygonema is in the 1910s.
OED's earliest evidence for zygonema is from 1911, in Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science.
Nearby entries
- zygomatic, adj. & n.1712–
- zygomatico-, comb. form
- zygomato-, comb. form
- zygomere, n.1966–
- zygomorphic, adj.1875–
- zygomorphism, n.1875–
- zygomorphous, adj.1879–
- Zygomycetes, n.1887–
- zygomycetous, adj.1928–
- zygon, n.1886–
- zygonema, n.1911–
- zygoneurous, adj.1901–
- zygophiuran, adj. & n.1892–
- zygophore, n.1904–
- zygophyllaceous, adj.1887–
- zygophyte, n.1885–
- zygopleura, n.1883–
- zygopterid, n. & adj.1900–
- zygosis, n.1880–
- zygosity, n.1952–
- zygosome, n.1905–
Etymology
Meaning & use
- 1911–† a. A chromosome at zygotene; b. = zygotene n.; now rare.
- 1911
The debatable stages of the meiotic prophases in which parasyndesis and its associated phenomena occur—leptonema, zygonema..—have been dealt with by many experienced cytologists.
Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science vol. 57 32 - 1911
By the time the zygonema is fairly far advanced we do get appearances not unlike what may occasionally..be found in the condensation of a somatic chromosome.
Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science vol. 57 33 - 1976
It is generally known that during zygonema (stages XII–XIV in rat spermatogenesis) the homologous sets of sister chromatid pairs begin to come together and associate with one another.
Nature 8 April 534/2
- resting stage1810–a. A place at which rest is taken during a journey (cf. stage, n.¹ V.17); also figurative; b. chiefly Biology a stage in a process, life cycle…
- prophase1884–The first stage in a mitotic or meiotic nuclear division, preceding prometaphase, during which chromatin condenses into chromosomes which become…
- anaphase1887–The stage in cell division, between metaphase and telophase, during which the daughter chromosomes move apart towards the opposite poles.
- metaphase1887–Originally: †each of the changes observed in the dividing cell nucleus from the formation of the equatorial plate to the beginning of the separation…
- synapsis1895–Biology. Originally in sense of quots. 1895, 1905; in modern use, chromosomal pairing during the zygotene stage of meiosis.
- telophase1895–The final phase of mitosis and meiosis, following anaphase and preceding interphase, at which the chromatids or chromosomes are at opposite poles of…
- maturation division1896–Either of the two divisions of meiosis.
- postsynapsis1898–Originally: a stage of meiosis after synapsis; spec. †(a) the stage in late anaphase during which paired chromosomes or chromatids become completely…
- strepsinema1900–25A condition of the nucleus during cell division, characterized by pairs of chromosomes twisted around one another or in the form of twisted rings…
- synizesis1905–Cytology. Also synezesis. A stage of meiosis in some species in which all the chromosomal material is seen tightly contracted into a clump.
- interkinesis1906–A stage which sometimes intervenes between the first and second divisions of meiosis; also, any stage between mitoses.
- pachynema1909–= pachytene, n.
- telosynapsis1909–A supposed end-to-end pairing of chromosomes during the zygotene stage of meiosis; = telosyndesis, n.
- leptonema1911–= leptotene, n.
- metasyndesis1911–Pairing of chromosomes by their ends; = telosynapsis, n.
- strepsitene1911–25= strepsinema, n.
- zygonema1911–†a. A chromosome at zygotene; b. = zygotene, n.; now rare.
- zygotene1911–The second stage of the prophase of meiosis, following leptotene, during which homologous chromosomes begin to pair.
- leptotene1912–The first stage of the prophase of the first meiotic division, in which the chromosomes are apparent as fine slender threads. Also attributive or as…
- pachytene1912–In cell division: the third stage of the first meiotic prophase, following zygotene, during which the paired chromosomes shorten and thicken, the…
- interphase1913–Cytology. A stage in the cycle of nuclear division which intervenes between one mitosis and the next; also, a stage between the first and second…
- telosyndesis1920= telosynapsis, n.
- prometaphase1931–The stage in mitotic or meiotic nuclear division, following prophase and preceding metaphase, during which the condensed chromosomes become…
- dictyotene1957–The dictyate stage of meiosis in oocytes; = dictyate, n. Frequently attributive.
- dictyate1958–The dictyate stage of meiosis; = dictyotene, n.
the world life biology biological processes genetic activity genetic components [nouns] chromosome chromosomes in respect of meiosis- trivalency1888–
- zygosome1905–= bivalent, adj. & n.
- bivalence1909–In various subjects: the quality of being bivalent; bivalency; spec. in Logic, principle of bivalence (see quots.).
- zygonema1911–†a. A chromosome at zygotene; b. = zygotene, n.; now rare.
- trivalent1922–Cytology. A multivalent consisting of three chromosomes.
- quadrivalent1923–Cell Biology. A multivalent consisting of four chromosomes.
- quinquevalent1926–Genetics. A multivalent involving five chromosomes.
- multivalent1929–Cell Biology. An association of three or more completely or partly homologous chromosomes during the first division of meiosis.
- nullisomic1932–A nullisomic individual or variety.
- bivalent1937–Biology. Applied to homologous chromosomes united in pairs at the first division of meiosis. Hence as n.
- nullisome1944–= nullisomic, n. Also: the missing chromosome of a nullisomic individual or variety.
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
Frequency
zygonema typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zygonema 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 zygonema, n., 1910–2010
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1910 | 0.002 |
| 1920 | 0.0021 |
| 1930 | 0.0032 |
| 1940 | 0.004 |
| 1950 | 0.0048 |
| 1960 | 0.0049 |
| 1970 | 0.0048 |
| 1980 | 0.0052 |
| 1990 | 0.0056 |
| 2000 | 0.0051 |
| 2010 | 0.0041 |