Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The letter z.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The letter Z, also called zee and sometimes izzard.
  • noun A metal bar rolled so as to have a cross-section resembling the letter Z.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The letter z; -- called also zee, and formerly izzard.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The name of the Latin script letter Z/z.
  • noun Something Z-shaped. Found in compounds such as zed-bar.
  • verb intransitive, informal To sleep or nap. (Compare zzz, catch some z's.)
  • verb intransitive, rare To zigzag; to move with sharp alternating turns.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the 26th letter of the Roman alphabet

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French zede, from Late Latin zēta, zeta, from Greek; see zeta.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek ζῆτα (zēta)

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Examples

  • Not to mention their aversion to the letter z, pronounced "zed" in most British dialects and the general accent.

    British-English Dictionary 2009

  • Right here in Canada, Molson struck gold when Joe Canadian proclaimed that not only is the beaver a noble creature, it's pronounced "zed;" not "zee" - "zed."

    Craig and Marc Kielburger: Everything in Moderation 2009

  • Not to mention their aversion to the letter z, pronounced "zed" in most British dialects and the general accent.

    Archive 2009-10-01 2009

  • Or maybe "zed," depending on what part of the world you're in.

    Patt Morrison: Blackwater: A Smell by Any Other Name? 2009

  • And I don't know if I'll ever remember to say "zed".

    Archive 2008-03-01 2008

  • Best of luck with your job search and mini's arrival! ps - oh, and we do say "zed" not "zee" ... you will get chuckles from students if you say "zee".

    willing to move North ScienceWoman 2006

  • If your ancestor's name began with "zed," you might have to wait until 2008.

    Archive 2007-02-01 2007

  • Get to the last letter and most of the room is saying "zed" while the dirty Americans on the far side of the room are sticking with "zee."

    D is for Dirty, That's Good Enough for Me 2007

  • The hardest one for me is remembering to call the letter z "zed".

    favour 2006

  • It might be a pretty difficult shift though -- do you ever see Z and think "zed"?

    goal 2006

Comments

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  • See also comments on zad.

    August 2, 2008

  • zed's dead

    December 16, 2008

  • Thou whoreson zed, unnecessary letter!

    April 15, 2010

  • zed's dead baby, zed's dead

    October 13, 2011