zed

Meaning

Noun

1. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK) The name of the Latin-script letter Z/z.
2. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, in-compounds) Something Z-shaped.
3. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, colloquial, plural-normally) Sleep.
4. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, slang) A zombie.

Verb

1. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, informal, intransitive) To sleep or nap. (Compare zzz, catch some z's.)
2. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, intransitive, rare) To zigzag; to move with sharp alternating turns.

Synonyms

zee

z

izzard

Z

ezed

zee

Translations

zeta

zeta

zet

zède

zê

z

Z

الزد

Z harfi

zeta

Pronounced as (IPA)

/zɛd/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: zed

Cognate with Spanish: zeta

Cognate with German: Zett

Cognate with French: zède

Cognate with Italian: zeta

Cognate with Portuguese: zê

In summary

From Middle English zed, zedde, zede, from Old French zede, from Late Latin zeta, from Ancient Greek ζῆτα (zêta), from Hebrew ז (zayin) with influence from beta, eta and theta. Letter had rare nonstandard usage in Old English, such as in bezt, where it represented "ts" (compare the German, Italian, and Finnish pronunciation of Z). For the sleep sense, see zzz. The zombie sense comes from the initial letter. Doublet of zeta. Cognate to Spanish zeta, German Zett, French zède, Italian zeta, and perhaps Portuguese zê.