zygomycetous, adj.

zygomycetous
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zygomycetous_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1986; not fully revised

# zygomycetousadjective

## Factsheet

### What does the adjective zygomycetous mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective zygomycetous. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, 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 adjective zygomycetous?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1920 | 0.0006
1930 | 0.0006
1940 | 0.0006
1950 | 0.0007
1960 | 0.0008
1970 | 0.0007
1980 | 0.0009
1990 | 0.001
2000 | 0.0011
2010 | 0.0013

### Where does the adjective zygomycetous come from?

Earliest known use

1920s

The earliest known use of the adjective zygomycetous is in the 1920s.

OED's earliest evidence for zygomycetous is from 1928, in a translation by C. W. Dodge.

### Nearby entries

1. zygology, n. 1970–
2. zygoma, n. 1684–
3. zygomatic, adj. & n. 1712–
4. zygomatico-, comb. form
5. zygomato-, comb. form
6. zygomere, n. 1966–
7. zygomorphic, adj. 1875–
8. zygomorphism, n. 1875–
9. zygomorphous, adj. 1879–
10. Zygomycetes, n. 1887–
11. zygomycetous, adj.1928–
12. zygon, n. 1886–
13. zygonema, n. 1911–
14. zygoneurous, adj. 1901–
15. zygophiuran, adj. & n. 1892–
16. zygophore, n. 1904–
17. zygophyllaceous, adj. 1887–
18. zygophyte, n. 1885–
19. zygopleura, n. 1883–
20. zygopterid, n. & adj. 1900–
21. zygosis, n. 1880–

## Meaning & use

Botany.

1. 1928–
   See Zygomycetes n.
   Stressed as zygomyˈcetous.
   1. 1928

      > A convergent development has apparently occurred in the Zygomycetous sporangia which have become gonotoconts.

      C. W. Dodge, translation of E. A. Gäumann, Comparative Morphology of Fungi xxxvi. 621
   2. 1952

      > Such a theory is based almost entirely on the asexual cycle, the zygomycetous reproduction having no counterpart in the present-day Saprolegniaceae which might give us a clue to its origin.

      C. J. Alexopoulos, Introductory Mycology vii. 180
   3. 1982

      > Synoptic keys to the genera and species of zygomycetous mycorrhizal fungi.

      Phytopathology vol. 72 1102 (heading)
   fungi
   1. Rhizoctonia 1823–
      A genus of imperfect fungi comprising plant pathogens which attack the roots or lower stem parts of various hosts, and are responsible for a number…
   2. discomycetous 1855–
      Of or relating to the (former) order or class Discomycetes of fungi; resembling fungi of this group, esp. in possessing a discocarp; (of lichens)…
   3. hymenomycetoid 1857–
      Resembling a hymenomycete.
   4. pyrenomycetous 1857–
      Of or belonging to the former class Pyrenomycetes of fungi; of, relating to, or of the nature of a pyrenomycete.
   5. gasteromycetous 1861–
      Of, belonging to, or relating to the Gasteromycetes, one of the orders of Fungi.
   6. hymenomycetous 1866–
   7. ascomycetous 1867–
   8. coniomycetous 1872–
   9. hymenomycetal 1875–
      Belonging to or having the nature of a hymenomycete.
   10. phycomycetous 1883–
       Of or relating to the former class Phycomycetes of lower fungi; of the nature of a phycomycete.
   11. hyphomycetous 1887–
       Of or belonging to the Hyphomycetes, a group of fungi consisting simply of hyphæ (Martius Flora Crypt. Erlang. 1817).
   12. zygomycetous 1928–
   13. Zygomycetes 1930–
       With plural agreement. A class of saprophytic and parasitic fungi in which sexual reproduction is by fusion of usually similar gametangia to produce…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

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

zygomycetous 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 zygomycetous, adj., 1920–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1920 | 0.0006
1930 | 0.0006
1940 | 0.0006
1950 | 0.0007
1960 | 0.0008
1970 | 0.0007
1980 | 0.0009
1990 | 0.001
2000 | 0.0011
2010 | 0.0013

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

Zygomycetes, n. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.