zoetrope
/ˈzəʊɪtɹəʊp/noun
zoetrope is spelled Z-O-E-T-R-O-P-E: 8 letters. It appears about once in every 21 million words in written English, the 138,319th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, zoetrope means “An optical toy, in which figures made to revolve on the inside of a cylinder, and viewed through slits in its circumference, appear like a single…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of zoetrope is zoetropes.
How many letters and syllables are in zoetrope?
| Letters | 8: Z-O-E-T-R-O-P-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 21 million words; the 138,319th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is zoetrope?
Zoetrope appears about once in every 21 million words in written English, the 138,319th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce zoetrope?
- /ˈzəʊɪtɹəʊp/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-zoetrope.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of zoetrope
- zoetropes plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does zoetrope mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An optical toy, in which figures made to revolve on the inside of a cylinder, and viewed through slits in its circumference, appear like a single figure passing through a series of natural motions as if animated or mechanically moved.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Zoetrope in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense optical toy:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | zootrope |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does zoetrope come from?
From Ancient Greek ζωή (zōḗ, “life”) + -trope. Coined by inventor William E. Lincoln.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).