zymin, n.

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

# zyminnoun

## Earlier version

- zymin in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zymin mean?

There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun zymin. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

zymin has developed meanings and uses in subjects including

pathology (1840s) pharmacology (1900s)

#### 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 zymin?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1860 | 0.0007
1870 | 0.0013
1880 | 0.0046
1890 | 0.0075
1900 | 0.0099
1910 | 0.011
1920 | 0.012
1930 | 0.012
1940 | 0.011
1950 | 0.0084
1960 | 0.0048
1970 | 0.0024
1980 | 0.0009
1990 | 0.0004
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0001

### How is the noun zymin pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzʌɪmɪn/

### Where does the noun zymin come from?

Earliest known use

1840s

The earliest known use of the noun zymin is in the 1840s.

OED's earliest evidence for zymin is from 1842, in the writing of W. Farr.

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

Etymons: Greek ζύμη, ‑in suffix1.

### Nearby entries

1. zygotoid, n. 1891–
2. zygotomere, n. 1899–
3. -zygous, comb. form
4. zygozoospore, n. 1881–
5. Zyklon, n. 1939–
6. zymad, n. 1885–
7. zymase, n. 1875–
8. zymate, n. 1817–19
9. zyme, n. 1882–
10. zymic, adj. 1817–26
11. zymin, n.1842–
12. zyminized, adj. 1888–
13. zymo-, comb. form
14. zymocyte, n. a1909–
15. zymodeme, n. 1978–
16. zymogen, n. 1877–
17. zymogenetic, adj. 1896–
18. zymogenic, adj. 1884–
19. zymogluconate, n. 1887–
20. zymogluconic, adj. 1886–
21. zymogram, n. 1957–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Greek, combined with an English element.
Etymons: Greek ζύμη, ‑in suffix1.
< Greek ζύμη leaven + ‑in suffix1.

## Meaning & use

1. 1.
   1842–
   = zyme n.
   1. 1842

      > The morbific principle (zymine).

      W. Farr in 4th Annual Rep. Registrar-Gen. Births, Deaths, & Marriages Eng. 201
   2. 1842

      > Some..kinds of matter (zymin) are reproduced in the organization after they have been destroyed by transformation (zymosis) in attacks of disease.

      W. Farr in 4th Annual Rep. Registrar-Gen. Births, Deaths, & Marriages Eng. 202
   pathology
   1. infection a1398–1871
      The agency, principle, or material by which (a) disease is transmitted or spread. Obsolete.
   2. leaven a1400–1892
      More generally: any substance that produces (supposed) fermentation; a ferment (ferment, n. 1); a causative agent of a zymotic disease. Obsolete.
   3. virus a1400–
      Medicine. Originally: pus or other discharge produced by an ulcer or wound. Later: a substance produced within the body by a disease, esp. when…
   4. contagion 1603–
      The substance or principle by which a contagious disease is transmitted; = contagium, n.
   5. taint 1623–
      A contaminating, corrupting, or depraving influence, physical or moral; a cause or condition of corruption or decay; an infection.
   6. fomes 1800–
      Medicine. Something that is capable of transferring a disease from one place or individual to another; spec. an object or substance that is…
   7. conductor 1807–
      A medium which transmits or conveys any disease or other condition.
   8. infectant 1832–
      An infecting or infectious agent.
   9. zymin 1842–
      = zyme, n.
   10. contagium 1870–
       spec. ‘The supposed solid or gaseous organized or unorganized substance by which infectious or contagious diseases are communicated’ (New Sydenham So…
   11. noxa 1872–
       A substance, agent, condition, process, or influence that is harmful to the body.
   12. pathogen 1880–
       A microorganism that causes disease. Also figurative.
   13. zyme 1882–
       A name for the substance or principle causing a zymotic disease: cf. zymosis, n.
   14. auto-infectant 1887
       = autointoxicant, n.
   15. insult 1903–
       Medicine. Anything which tends to cause disease in or injury to the body or to disturb normal bodily processes; also, the resulting reaction, lesion…
   16. biological invader 1939–
       a. A pest or pathogen; b. Ecology an organism or species that comes to populate an ecosystem to which it is not native, usually to the detriment of…
   17. bioinvader 1959–
       = biological invader, n. (in either sense).
   View in Historical Thesaurus
2. 2.
   1901–
   A pancreatic extract used in medicine.
   1. 1901

      > Zymin,..a pancreatic extract prepared for therapeutic use.

      W. A. N. Dorland, Medical Dictionary (ed. 2) 770/2
   pharmacology
   1. lard?1440–
      Fat from a pig (or occasionally another animal, typically specified), esp. the internal fat of the abdomen, extracted and clarified by rendering…
   2. sevum c1440–
      Suet, as used in pharmacy.
   3. larding 1582–
      That which is used to lard something; (in early use) †fat, grease (obsolete); (later) bacon or other foods used in the culinary process of larding…
   4. protamine 1874–
      Any of a class of small basic proteins which occur in association with nucleic acids in the sperm of fish and other animals.
   5. renin 1894
      Medicine. A preparation made from animal kidneys, used in organotherapy. Obsolete. rare.
   6. serum 1895–
      Therapeutics. The blood serum of an animal used as a therapeutic or diagnostic agent.
   7. sturine 1896–
      A protamine extracted from the testicles of fish of the genus Accipenser, esp. A. sturio and A. guldenstadtii, sturgeons of the Baltic and Caspian…
   8. iodothyrin 1897–
      = thyro-iodine, n.
   9. anti-serum 1901–
      a. A contraction of antitoxic serum (see antitoxic, adj.). b. A serum containing a high level of antibodies, esp. one that can be used in the…
   10. zymin 1901–
       A pancreatic extract used in medicine.
   11. heparin 1918–
       A sulfated polysaccharide present in various body tissues and organs, esp. the liver, lungs, and muscles, and used therapeutically as an…
   12. antireticular cytotoxic serum 1942–
       Acting against the reticulum cells of the reticulo-endothelial system; spec. in antireticular cytotoxic serum (abbrev. A.C.S.), a cytotoxic serum…
   13. urokinase 1952–
       An enzyme which catalyses the conversion of plasminogen to plasmin and is used in the treatment of blood clots.
   14. cryoprecipitate 1956–
       A substance precipitated by the cooling of a solution or suspension; spec. (now frequently without article) a preparation rich in clotting…
   15. xenoantiserum 1973–
       An antiserum rich in xenoantibodies.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzʌɪmɪn/

####

##### 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.

## Forms

### Variant forms

Also zymine.

## Frequency

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

zymin 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 zymin, n., 1860–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1860 | 0.0007
1870 | 0.0013
1880 | 0.0046
1890 | 0.0075
1900 | 0.0099
1910 | 0.011
1920 | 0.012
1930 | 0.012
1940 | 0.011
1950 | 0.0084
1960 | 0.0048
1970 | 0.0024
1980 | 0.0009
1990 | 0.0004
2000 | 0.0002
2010 | 0.0001

## Compounds & derived words

Sort by

1. zyminized, adj. 1888–
   Predigested by means of zymin.

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

zymin, n. was last modified in December 2024.