zoochory, n.

zoochory
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoochory_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2017

# zoochorynoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zoochory mean?

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

### How common is the noun zoochory?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1940 | 0.0009
1950 | 0.0014
1960 | 0.0015
1970 | 0.0016
1980 | 0.0019
1990 | 0.0021
2000 | 0.0024
2010 | 0.0024

### How is the noun zoochory pronounced?

#### British English

/ˌzuː(ə)ˈkɔːri/
zoo-uh-KOR-ee
/ˌzəʊəˈkɔːri/
zoh-uh-KOR-ee

#### U.S. English

/ˌzu(ə)ˈkɔri/
zoo-uh-KOR-ee
/ˌzoʊəˈkɔri/
zoh-uh-KOR-ee

### Where does the noun zoochory come from?

Earliest known use

1920s

The earliest known use of the noun zoochory is in the 1920s.

OED's earliest evidence for zoochory is from 1921, in Věstník Královské České Společnosti Naúk 1919.

zoochory is formed within English, by derivation; partly modelled on a Czech lexical item, and partly modelled on a German lexical item.

Etymons: zoochore n., zoochorous adj., ‑y suffix3.

### Nearby entries

1. zooarchaeology, n. 1967–
2. zoobenthos, n. 1923–
3. zoocarp, n. 1824–88
4. zoocaulon, n. 1881–
5. zoocentric, adj. 1882–
6. zoochemical, adj. & n. 1844–
7. zoochemistry, n. 1835–
8. zoochlorella, n. 1882–
9. zoochore, n. 1904–
10. zoochorous, adj. 1904–
11. zoochory, n.1921–
12. zoo-crazy, adj. 1938–
13. zoocultural, adj. 1899–
14. zooculture, n. 1873–
15. zoocytium, n. 1880–
16. zoodendrium, n. 1880–
17. Zoodikers, int. 1749–98
18. zoodynamic, adj.?1819–
19. zoodynamics, n. 1888–
20. zooecial, adj. 1873–
21. zooecium, n. 1871–

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by derivation; partly modelled on a Czech lexical item, and partly modelled on a German lexical item.
Etymons: zoochore n., zoochorous adj., ‑y suffix3.
< zoochor- (in zoochore n., zoochorous adj.) + ‑y suffix3, after Czech zoochorie (1919 or earlier) and its model German Zoochorie (1893 or earlier).

## Meaning & use

Ecology.

1. 1921–
   The dispersal of plant seeds, spores, etc., by animals.
   Cf. anemochory n., hydrochory n., myrmecochory n.
   1. 1921

      > In Hymenogastrineae they [sc. odorous matters] occur in connection with zoochory.

      Věstník Královské České Společnosti Naúk 1919 45
   2. 1933

      > Methods of ecological distribution include several types,..subdivided into anemochory, distribution by wind; hydrochory, distribution by water; zoochory, distribution by animals; and anthropochory.

      Ecology vol. 14 226
   3. 1980

      > Dispersal is probably mostly by means of water flowing through pores and channels in the soil, but zoochory also plays a role.

      Botanisk Tidsskrift vol. 75 159
   4. 2003

      > Extreme weather events..or zoochory may redistribute species well above their normal range.

      L. Nagy et al., Alpine Biodiversity in Europe xxix. 460
   ecology plants
   1. anemophily 1879–
      Pollination carried out by pollen dispersed in wind.
   2. wind pollination 1886–
      Pollination carried out by pollen dispersed by wind; an instance of this.
   3. hand-pollination 1890–
      Pollination carried out by hand, rather than occurring through natural means; an instance of this.
   4. acarophily 1898–
      The condition or fact of being acarophilous.
   5. ornithophily 1903–
      Ecology. Pollination by birds.
   6. zoophily 1904–
      Ecology. Pollination by animals. Also: spec. pollination by vertebrate animals as distinct from insects. Cf. zoophilous, adj. 1.
   7. hydrophily 1920–
      Pollination by the agency of water.
   8. zoochory 1921–
      The dispersal of plant seeds, spores, etc., by animals.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˌzuː(ə)ˈkɔːri/
zoo-uh-KOR-ee
/ˌzəʊəˈkɔːri/
zoh-uh-KOR-ee

### U.S. English

/ˌzu(ə)ˈkɔri/
zoo-uh-KOR-ee
/ˌzoʊəˈkɔri/
zoh-uh-KOR-ee

####

##### 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

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

zoochory 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 data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zoochory, n., 1940–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1940 | 0.0009
1950 | 0.0014
1960 | 0.0015
1970 | 0.0016
1980 | 0.0019
1990 | 0.0021
2000 | 0.0024
2010 | 0.0024

Originally published as part of the entry for zoochore, n.

zoochory, n. was revised in June 2017.

zoochory, n. was last modified in July 2023.