zoophilic, adj.

zoophilic
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoophilic_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2017

# zoophilicadjective

## Earlier version

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

## Factsheet

### What does the adjective zoophilic mean?

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

zoophilic has developed meanings and uses in subjects including

animals (1880s) psychiatry (1910s) life sciences (1920s)

### How common is the adjective zoophilic?

About 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1900 | 0.0016
1910 | 0.0029
1920 | 0.0071
1930 | 0.0082
1940 | 0.011
1950 | 0.013
1960 | 0.015
1970 | 0.015
1980 | 0.016
1990 | 0.014
2000 | 0.013
2010 | 0.013

### How is the adjective zoophilic pronounced?

#### British English

/ˌzuː(ə)ˈfɪlɪk/
zoo-uh-FIL-ik
/ˌzəʊəˈfɪlɪk/
zoh-uh-FIL-ik

#### U.S. English

/ˌzu(ə)ˈfɪlɪk/
zoo-uh-FIL-ik
/ˌzoʊəˈfɪlɪk/
zoh-uh-FIL-ik

### Where does the adjective zoophilic come from?

Earliest known use

1880s

The earliest known use of the adjective zoophilic is in the 1880s.

OED's earliest evidence for zoophilic is from 1884, in American Reg.

zoophilic is formed within English, by compounding.

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

### Nearby entries

1. zoonters, int. a1763–
2. zoo-organic, adj. 1821–90
3. zoopathologist, n. 1898–
4. zoopathology, n. 1841–
5. zoophagan, n. & adj. 1835–
6. zoophagic, adj. 1903–
7. zoophagous, adj. 1788–
8. zoophagy, n. 1849–
9. zoophile, n. 1885–
10. zoophilia, n. 1894–
11. zoophilic, adj.1884–
12. zoophilism, n. 1867–
13. zoophilist, n. 1829–
14. zoophilite, n. 1879–
15. zoophilous, adj. 1881–
16. zoophily, n. 1830–
17. zoophobia, n. 1888–
18. zoophysical, adj. 1820–
19. zoophysics, n. 1887–
20. zoophysiology, n. 1803–
21. zoophytal, adj. 1756–

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by compounding.
Etymons: zoo- comb. form, ‑philic comb. form.
< zoo- comb. form + ‑philic comb. form, after zoophily n. and (in sense 2) zoophilia n.

Compare earlier zoophilist n. and zoophilite n.…
< zoo- comb. form + ‑philic comb. form, after zoophily n. and (in sense 2) zoophilia n.

Compare earlier zoophilist n. and zoophilite n.

### Notes

With sense 3 compare zoophilous adj. 2 and the foreign-language parallels cited at that entry.

## Meaning & use

1. 1.
   1884–
   Relating to or characterized by emotional attachment to, or love of, animals; animal-loving. Cf. zoophilia n. 1.
   1. 1884

      > I hold that it is zoophilic when you can make machinery do the work of poor beasts of burden and of traction.

      American Reg. 5 July (London edition) 5/2
   2. 1947

      > Our chief concern, however, is with the dog as a beast of burden. In England, presumably owing to the prevalence of zoophilic organisations such as the R.S.P.C.A. such practices are illegalised.

      New Biology 152
   3. 1998

      > A zoophilic compassion for all animals.

      S. H. Webb, God & Dogs v. 109
   4. 2000

      > Given the zoophilic tendencies of Britain's younger poets..it is interesting to find that Polly Clark..was, at one time, a zookeeper.

      Times Literary Supplement 15 September 32
   animals
   1. philozoic 1863–
      Loving animals; kind to animals.
   2. zoophilic 1884–
      Relating to or characterized by emotional attachment to, or love of, animals; animal-loving. Cf. zoophilia, n. 1.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
2. 2.
   1911–
   Originally Psychology and Psychiatry. Relating to or characterized by sexual attraction to, or activity with, animals. Cf. zoophilia n. 2.
   1. 1911

      > This story, together with the remarks made..upon the repulsiveness of zo-ophilic practices, made a great impression upon the patient.

      H. W. Frink in Journal Abnormal Psychology vol. 6 201
   2. 1965

      > Some spectators may derive a premature zoophilic frisson from Marnie's words to her horse, ‘Oh, Forio, if you want to bite anyone, bite me.’

      Movie Spring 23/2
   3. 2010

      > Wanted: arrogant English, dumb Irish, zoophilic Welsh man; for comedic purpose only.

      Private Eye 28 May 37/4 (advertisement)
   psychiatry
   1. zoophilic 1911–
      Originally Psychology and Psychiatry. Relating to or characterized by sexual attraction to, or activity with, animals. Cf. zoophilia, n. 2.
   2. sheep-shagging 1992–
      slang (chiefly British). derogatory. Designating a man who (it is suggested) engages in sexual intercourse with sheep. Usually as a term of abuse: designating a man from a rural region…
   View in Historical Thesaurus
3. 3.
   1922–
   Biology. Of a parasitic organism: that prefers to feed, live, or grow on animals rather than humans; having an animal rather than a human host. Also: of, relating to, or characteristic of such organisms. Contrasted with anthropophilic adj.
   1. 1922

      > Anopheles are perhaps not so much misanthropic and zoophilic as thermotropic.

      Tropical Dis. Bulletin vol. 19 857
   2. 1937

      > With ‘stabulation’ there come the optimum conditions for the ‘deviation’ of any species of zoophilic habits, and if these zoophilic forms alone are present, as is the case over a large part of Europe, malaria disappears.

      British Medical Journal 3 April 715/2
   3. 1961

      > The Formosan strain of S [chistosoma] japonicum develops for a short period in the viscera of man, but does not reach maturity there and must be regarded as a non-human, zoophilic strain.

      Journal of Parasitology vol. 47 891/1
   4. 2015

      > Fungi coming from animal sources (zoophilic fungi) induce a more intense inflammation than those spread from person to person.

      R. B. Weller et al., Clinical Dermatology (ed. 5) ix. 240/2
   life sciences

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˌzuː(ə)ˈfɪlɪk/
zoo-uh-FIL-ik
/ˌzəʊəˈfɪlɪk/
zoh-uh-FIL-ik

### U.S. English

/ˌzu(ə)ˈfɪlɪk/
zoo-uh-FIL-ik
/ˌzoʊəˈfɪlɪk/
zoh-uh-FIL-ik

####

##### 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

(a) See zoo- comb. form and ‑philic comb. form
(b) Also

1. 1900s
   zo-ophilic

## Frequency

zoophilic typically occurs about 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zoophilic is in frequency band 3, which contains words occurring between 0.01 and 0.1 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 zoophilic, adj., 1900–2010

* 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
--- | ---
1900 | 0.0016
1910 | 0.0029
1920 | 0.0071
1930 | 0.0082
1940 | 0.011
1950 | 0.013
1960 | 0.015
1970 | 0.015
1980 | 0.016
1990 | 0.014
2000 | 0.013
2010 | 0.013

zoophilic, adj. was revised in June 2017.

zoophilic, adj. was last modified in July 2023.