ζῷον, τό,
living being, animal, [[ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 5.10 (of bees), 5th-6th c.BC: Aristophanes Comicus “Vespae” 551, “Pl.” 443, etc.; πᾶν ὅ τι περ ἂν μετάσχῃ τοῦ ζῆν ζῷον ἂν λέγοιτο 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Timaeus” 77b ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ζῷα, opposed to φυτά, [[ [prev. author] “Phd.” 70d, 110e, etc.] Refs]; ζ. θαλάττιον, χερσαῖον, [[ 1st c.BC: Philodemus Gadarensis Epigrammaticus “Rh.” 1.98 S] Refs 1st c.BC+].; contemptuously, ὅπως ἡ χώρα τοῦ τοιούτου ζῴου καθαρὰ γίγνηται may be free from this kind of animal (i.e. beggars), [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Leges” 936c ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ζ. πονηρόν, of women, [[ 2nd c.AD: Secundus Gnomologus “Sententiae - FPG” 8. ] Refs 2nd c.AD+]
__II in art, figure, image, not necessarily of animals (compare ζῴδιον), ζῷον δέ οἱ ἐνῆν, ἀνὴρ ἱππεύς [[ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 3.88 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]: mostly in plural, ζῷα ἐς τὴν ἐσθῆτα ἐγγράφειν [[ [prev. author] 1.203, compare 2.4, 124, 148, 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Respublica” 515a, etc.] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ζῷα γράψασθαι τὴν ζεῦξιν τοῦ Βοσπόρου to have pictures of the bridging of the Bosporus painted, [[ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 4.88 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; compare ζωγραφέω: ζῷα ποιεῖν [[ 1st-2nd c.AD: Plutarchus Biographus et Philosophus “Pericles” 13. ] Refs 1st c.AD+]
__III sign of the Zodiac, [[ 4th c.AD(?): Manetho Astrologus 2.166.—The word is post- 8th c.BC: Homerus Epicus ] Refs 8th c.BC+], no generic word used for animal being found till after the middle of the fifth cent. BC [[5th c.BC(ζώϊον 7th-6th c.BC(?): Semonides Iambographus 13, whence _Attic dialect_ ζῷον] Refs 7th c.BC+] by contraction: ι is found in [[ “IG” 12.372.42, +others,11(2).161 B 76 (Delos, 3rd c.BC), 1st c.BC: Philodemus Gadarensis Epigrammaticus “Rh.” 2.166 S] Refs 3rd c.BC+]., and in codices optative in the Noun; the adjective ζωός (which see) had no ι: for the compounds (except ζωγλύφος, ζωγράφος) decisive evidence is lacking: ζῳάγρια with ι was read by [[ 3rd-2nd c.BC: Aristarchus Grammaticus in 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 18.407.) ] Refs 8th c.BC+]