zoolatry, n.

zoolatry
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoolatry_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2017

# zoolatrynoun

## Earlier version

- zoolatry in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zoolatry mean?

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

### How common is the noun zoolatry?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1820 | 0.0005
1830 | 0.0016
1840 | 0.0025
1850 | 0.0046
1860 | 0.0078
1870 | 0.0089
1880 | 0.01
1890 | 0.011
1900 | 0.011
1910 | 0.01
1920 | 0.0085
1930 | 0.006
1940 | 0.0054
1950 | 0.0043
1960 | 0.0036
1970 | 0.0033
1980 | 0.0036
1990 | 0.0035
2000 | 0.0031
2010 | 0.0029

### How is the noun zoolatry pronounced?

#### British English

/zuːˈɒlətri/
zoo-OL-uh-tree
/zəʊˈɒlətri/
zoh-OL-uh-tree

#### U.S. English

/zuˈɑlətri/
zoo-AH-luh-tree
/zoʊˈɑlətri/
zoh-AH-luh-tree

### Where does the noun zoolatry come from?

Earliest known use

late 1700s

The earliest known use of the noun zoolatry is in the late 1700s.

OED's earliest evidence for zoolatry is from 1784, in a dictionary by J. S. Charrier.

zoolatry is formed within English, by compounding; modelled on a French lexical item.

Etymons: zoo- comb. form, ‑latry comb. form.

### Nearby entries

1. zooid, n. 1851–
2. zooid, adj. 1849
3. zooidal, adj. 1858–
4. zooidogamous, adj. 1891–
5. zookeeper, n. 1886–
6. zookeeping, n. 1929–
7. Zookers, int. 1620–
8. Zooks, int. 1600–
9. zoolater, n. 1876–
10. zoolatrous, adj. 1876–
11. zoolatry, n.1784–
12. zoolite, n. 1768–
13. zoologer, n. 1663–
14. zoologic, adj. 1766–
15. zoological, adj. & n. 1686–
16. zoological garden, n. 1827–
17. zoologically, adv. 1799–
18. zoologico-, comb. form
19. zoologico-archaeologist, n. 1864
20. zoologist, n. 1663–
21. zoologize, v. 1830–

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by compounding; modelled on a French lexical item.
Etymons: zoo- comb. form, ‑latry comb. form.
< zoo- comb. form + ‑latry comb. form, after French zoolâtrie (1721), itself after post-classical Latin zoolatria (1644 or earlier).

## Meaning & use

1. 1784–
   The worship of animals. Also hyperbolically: extreme or excessive fondness for animals.
   1. 1784

      > Zoolatry, zoolatrie.

      J. S. Charrier, Nugent's New Pocket Dictionary Eng. & French (ed. 4) vol. II
   2. 1845

      > That the gods of the Gentiles, however connected with Sabianism and Materialism and Zoölatry, were originally..deified mortals.

      G. S. Faber, Eight Dissertations vol. I. iv. i. 285
   3. 1858

      > Conspicuous at the head of the zoolatry of Egypt stands the worship of the great Memphitic bull, Apis.

      C. Hardwick, Christ & Other Masters iv. i. 56
   4. 1896

      > We were not aware that she carried her zoolatry to the length of objecting to the dissection of their [sc. animals'] dead bodies.

      British Medical Journal 11 April 931/2
   5. 1907

      > They brought with them a concrete form of zoolatry in the cult of the buffalo.

      Quarterly Review July 200
   6. 1935

      > Zoolatry, so common to most boys, is put to its best uses.

      Times 24 January 8/3
   7. 2005

      > The zoolatry of the Egyptians unnerved the Greeks, as did the greater antiquity of their culture.

      New Republic (Nexis) 21 March 25
   religion
   1. brute-worship 1738–
   2. zoolatry 1784–
      The worship of animals. Also hyperbolically: extreme or excessive fondness for animals.
   3. therolatry 1873–
      Beast-worship, worship of animals.
   4. theriolatry 1897–
      The worship of beasts, or of theriomorphic deities.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/zuːˈɒlətri/
zoo-OL-uh-tree
/zəʊˈɒlətri/
zoh-OL-uh-tree

### U.S. English

/zuˈɑlətri/
zoo-AH-luh-tree
/zoʊˈɑlətri/
zoh-AH-luh-tree

####

##### 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

## Forms

### Variant forms

See zoo- comb. form and ‑latry comb. form.

## Frequency

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

zoolatry 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 zoolatry, n., 1820–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1820 | 0.0005
1830 | 0.0016
1840 | 0.0025
1850 | 0.0046
1860 | 0.0078
1870 | 0.0089
1880 | 0.01
1890 | 0.011
1900 | 0.011
1910 | 0.01
1920 | 0.0085
1930 | 0.006
1940 | 0.0054
1950 | 0.0043
1960 | 0.0036
1970 | 0.0033
1980 | 0.0036
1990 | 0.0035
2000 | 0.0031
2010 | 0.0029

zoolatry, n. was revised in June 2017.

zoolatry, n. was last modified in July 2023.