English Words Starting With Z

• zoom lens

  nounMedium
  /ˈzuːm lɛnz/A camera lens that can vary its focal length, allowing the user to change magnification (zoom in/out) without moving the camera.
• zoom out

  verbB1
  /ˌzuːm ˈaʊt/To adjust a camera, lens, or view so that the image or perspective becomes smaller and more distant, showing more of the surrounding area; to metaphorically pull back from a detail to see a broader context.
• zoometry

  nounRare / Technical
  /zəʊˈɒm.ɪ.tri/The scientific measurement of animals or their parts.
• zoomorphism

  nounLow
  /ˌzuːə(ʊ)ˈmɔːfɪz(ə)m/The attribution of animal forms, characteristics, or behaviors to deities, humans, or inanimate objects.
• zoonosis

  nounC2
  /ˌzəʊ.əˈnəʊ.sɪs/An infectious disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans.
• zooparasite

  nounLow / Very Low
  /ˌzuːə(ʊ)ˈpærəsaɪt/An animal parasite; a parasite that lives on or in an animal host.
• zoophile

  nounC2
  /ˈzəʊ.ə.faɪl/A person who experiences sexual attraction to animals.
• zoophilia

  nounLow
  /ˌzəʊ.əˈfɪl.i.ə/A sexual attraction to animals.
• zoophilism

  nounVery Rare
  /ˌzuːə(ʊ)ˈfɪlɪz(ə)m/A sexual attraction to or sexual fixation on animals.
• zoophobia

  nounC2
  /ˌzəʊ.əˈfəʊ.bi.ə/An irrational or excessive fear of animals.
• zoophorus

  nounVery Rare
  /ˌzuːəˈfɔːrəs/A continuous sculptured frieze featuring figures of animals and/or people, typically found in classical architecture.
• zoophyte

  nounC2/Rare
  /ˈzəʊ.ə.faɪt/An animal that resembles a plant in appearance or growth form, historically used for organisms like corals, sea anemones, and sponges.
• zooplankter

  nounVery Low
  /ˈzuː.əʊˌplæŋk.tə/An individual organism, usually microscopic, that is part of the zooplankton.
• zooplankton

  nounC1
  /ˌzəʊ.əˈplæŋk.tən/Small (often microscopic) aquatic animals and immature stages of some larger animals that drift in water, unable to swim against currents.
• zooplasty

  nounVery Low (Technical/Jargon)
  /ˈzuːə(ʊ)ˌplasti/A surgical operation to transplant living tissue from an animal to a human, or from one animal to another.
• zoopraxiscope

  nounVery Low
  /ˌzuːə(ʊ)ˈpræksɪskəʊp/An early device for projecting moving pictures, invented by Eadweard Muybridge, which displayed sequences of images on a rotating glass disk to simulate motion.
• zoosemiotics

  nounVery Rare
  /ˌzuːəʊsɛmiːˈɒtɪks/The study of animal communication.
• zoosperm

  nounC2/Technical
  /ˈzəʊəʊspɜːm/A spermatozoon; a motile male gamete or reproductive cell of an animal.
• zoosporangium

  nounVery Low (C2+ technical term)
  /ˌzəʊ.ə(ʊ).spəˈræn.dʒi.əm/a specialized structure in certain fungi, algae, and oomycetes that produces and contains asexual swimming spores called zoospores.
• zoospore

  nounC2 (Very Low Frequency)
  /ˈzəʊ.ə.spɔːr/A spore that can move by means of one or more flagella, used for asexual reproduction in certain algae, fungi, and protozoans.

Showing 441–460 of 568 words.