zoogonic, adj.

zoogonic
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoogonic_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2017

# zoogonicadjective

## Earlier version

- zoogonic, a. in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the adjective zoogonic mean?

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

### How common is the adjective zoogonic?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1790 | 0.0034
1800 | 0.0027
1810 | 0.0023
1820 | 0.0019
1830 | 0.00008
1840 | 0.0001
1850 | 0.00002
1860 | 0.00008
1870 | 0.00008
1880 | 0.00008
1890 | 0.00009
1900 | 0.0001
1910 | 0.0003
1920 | 0.0004
1930 | 0.0006
1940 | 0.0006
1950 | 0.0006
1960 | 0.0006
1970 | 0.0006
1980 | 0.0005
1990 | 0.0004
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0003

### How is the adjective zoogonic pronounced?

#### British English

/zuː(ə)ˈɡɒnɪk/
zoo-uh-GON-ik
/zəʊəˈɡɒnɪk/
zoh-uh-GON-ik

#### U.S. English

/zu(ə)ˈɡɑnɪk/
zoo-uh-GAH-nick
/zoʊəˈɡɑnɪk/
zoh-uh-GAH-nick

### Where does the adjective zoogonic come from?

Earliest known use

late 1700s

The earliest known use of the adjective zoogonic is in the late 1700s.

OED's earliest evidence for zoogonic is from 1787, in a translation by Thomas Taylor, philosopher and translator.

zoogonic is a borrowing from Greek, combined with an English element.

Etymons: Greek ζωογόνος, ‑ic suffix.

### Nearby entries

1. zoogeographic, adj. 1875–
2. zoogeographical, adj. 1864–
3. zoogeographically, adv. 1883–
4. zoogeography, n. 1851–
5. zoogeological, adj. 1841–
6. zoogeologist, n. 1844–
7. zoogeology, n. 1838–
8. zoogloea, n. 1861–
9. zoogloeal, adj. 1879–
10. zoogloeic, adj. 1883–
11. zoogonic, adj.1787–
12. zoogonidium, n. 1857–
13. zoogony, n. 1675–
14. zoograph, n. 1623
15. zoographer, n. 1646–
16. zoographic, adj. 1741–
17. zoographical, adj. 1651–
18. zoographically, adv. 1835–
19. zoographist, n. 1749–1874
20. zoography, n. 1593–
21. zoogyroscope, n. 1880–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Greek, combined with an English element.
Etymons: Greek ζωογόνος, ‑ic suffix.
< Hellenistic Greek ζωογόνος producing animals, generative, in Byzantine Greek also life-producing (Proclus (see quot. 1788); < ancient Greek ζωή life (see zoism n.) + ‑γονος producing: see protogonous adj.…
< Hellenistic Greek ζωογόνος producing animals, generative, in Byzantine Greek also life-producing (Proclus (see quot. 1788); < ancient Greek ζωή life (see zoism n.) + ‑γονος producing: see protogonous adj.) + ‑ic suffix.

Compare Hellenistic Greek ζωογονικός capable of generation.

Compare earlier zoogony n.

## Meaning & use

1. 1787–
   Of or relating to the generation or development of animals or living things generally; life-producing, generative. Cf. zoogony n.
   1. 1787

      > Rhea, according to the Orphic and Platonic theology, is one of the zoogonic or vivific principles of the universe.

      T. Taylor in translation of Mystical Initiations xiii. 137 (note)
   2. 1788

      > The zoogonic, or vivific goddess [Greek ὡς τῆς ζωογόνου θεότητος].

      T. Taylor, translation of Proclus, Philosophical & Mathematical Commentaries vol. I. 118
   3. 1842

      > These zoogonic elements can become combined and associated one with another so as to produce a variation in animality.

      Medical Times 17 December 182/3
   4. 1845

      > Hephaestus is generative fire; the Zoogonic heat of the sun.

      W. Watkiss Lloyd, Xanthian Marbles 41
   5. 1902

      > The number 216 maintains its character as a matrimonial and generative force: for it is the cube of the area of the zoogonic triangle and the product of the cubes of the first male and female numbers.

      J. Adam, Republic Plato vol. II. 293
   6. 1987

      > The theologians have supposed the source of Nature to be the zoogonic goddess.

      G. R. Morrow & J. M. Dillon in translation of Proclus, Comm. Plato's Parmenides (1992) 183 (Comm.)
   7. 2005

      > The geological conditions of the Nile Delta may have inspired Anaximander's ‘evolutionary’ zoogonic and anthropogonic ideas.

      Isis vol. 96 423/1
   1. zoogonic 1787–
      Of or relating to the generation or development of animals or living things generally; life-producing, generative. Cf. zoogony, n.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zuː(ə)ˈɡɒnɪk/
zoo-uh-GON-ik
/zəʊəˈɡɒnɪk/
zoh-uh-GON-ik

### U.S. English

/zu(ə)ˈɡɑnɪk/
zoo-uh-GAH-nick
/zoʊəˈɡɑnɪk/
zoh-uh-GAH-nick

####

##### 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

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

zoogonic 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 zoogonic, adj., 1790–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1790 | 0.0034
1800 | 0.0027
1810 | 0.0023
1820 | 0.0019
1830 | 0.00008
1840 | 0.0001
1850 | 0.00002
1860 | 0.00008
1870 | 0.00008
1880 | 0.00008
1890 | 0.00009
1900 | 0.0001
1910 | 0.0003
1920 | 0.0004
1930 | 0.0006
1940 | 0.0006
1950 | 0.0006
1960 | 0.0006
1970 | 0.0006
1980 | 0.0005
1990 | 0.0004
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0003

zoogonic, adj. was revised in June 2017.

zoogonic, adj. was last modified in July 2023.