zoon

See also: zoön and zo-on

English

Alternative forms

• zoön

Etymology

First adopted by Herbert Spencer in Principles of Biology (see 1864 quotation): from New Latin zōon, from Ancient Greek ζῷον (zôion, “animal”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈzəʊɒn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

zoon (plural zoa or zoons)

1. (biology) An animal which is the sole product of a single egg.
2. (biology) Any one of the perfectly developed individuals of a compound animal.

Quotations

• 1864, Herbert Spencer, Principles of Biology, page 205, § 73 (1868 reprint; D. Appleton & Co.)

  [… A] zoological individual is constituted either by any such single animal as a mammal or bird, which may properly claim the title of a zoon, or by any such group of animals as the numerous Medusæ that have been developed from the same egg, which are to be severally distinguished as zooids.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “an animal which is the sole product of a single egg”): zooid

Anagrams

• nooz, zono-

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch sōne, from Old Dutch suno, from Proto-West Germanic *sunu, from Proto-Germanic *sunuz, from Proto-Indo-European *suHnús.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zoːn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: zoon
• Homophone: zo'n
• Rhymes: -oːn

Noun

zoon m (plural zoons or zonen, diminutive zoontje n)

1. son

   Mijn zoon gaat volgend jaar naar de universiteit. ― My son is going to the university next year.

   Ze heeft drie zonen en een dochter. ― She has three sons and one daughter.

   Haar zoontje speelde in de tuin met zijn vriendjes. ― Her little son was playing in the garden with his friends.

Derived terms

• adoptiefzoon
• kleinzoon
• Mensenzoon
• peetzoon
• -s (“patronymic suffix”)
• Zoon des mensen

Descendants

• Afrikaans: seun
• Jersey Dutch: zőn
• Negerhollands: soon, sön
• Skepi Creole Dutch: son

See also

• dochter

Anagrams

• ozon

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

zoon

1. accusative singular of zoo

Limburgish

Alternative forms

• Sonne (Eupen)
• Suohn (Krefeld)

Etymology

From Middle Dutch sōne, from Old Dutch suno, from Proto-West Germanic *sunu.

Noun

zoon m (plural zeuns)

1. son

Swedish

Noun

zoon

1. indefinite plural of zoo

Yola

Alternative forms

• soon

Etymology

From Middle English sone, from Old English sōna, from Proto-West Germanic *sān(ō).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zuːn/, /suːn/

Adverb

zoon

1. soon

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 82