"Z" Word Origins

za

Origin

A clipped, informal shortening of "pizza."

Zaara

Arabic

From Arabic ṣaḥārā, meaning "deserts" — the same root as "Sahara."

zabaglione

Origin

Borrowed from Italian zabaglione, zabaione, possibly from Latin sabaia (“Illyrian barley beer”) (from an Illyrian word probably from Proto-Indo-European *sab- (“taste”)) + -one (augmentative suffix).

Zack

Origin

The slang sense for money is of uncertain origin, possibly connected to "six."

zaddy

Origin

The origin of the slang word zaddy, an assibilation of daddy, is unclear. Urban Dictionary has numerous, usually similar user definitions of zaddy with the earliest going back to June 17, 2008 by a user by the name of Josette as follows: "The slang term for a really "handsome" guy who is very appealing and looks really fashionable. He has to have swag and sex appeal and look sexy and attractive", this meaning is the most common. Other published instances of the word only become more frequent around 2018 but perhaps influenced by by American rapper Ty Dolla Sign's 2016 song by the same name.

zaftig

Origin

From Yiddish זאַפֿטיק (zaftik), cognate to German saftig (“juicy”). Doublet of sappy.

zag

Origin

A back-formation from "zigzag" — people split the word in two and started using "zag" on its own.

Zahra

Arabic

Borrowed from Arabic زَهْراء (zahrāʔ), an epithet of Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad. As a surname, it is predominantly found in Egypt.

Zaire

Origin

A shortened form of the Kongo phrase "nzadi o nzere," meaning "the river that swallows all rivers," referring to the Congo River; adopted as the country's name under Mobutu's Authenticity Movement.

zak

Afrikaans

From Afrikaans sak ("bag"), the same root that gives English "sack."

Zaki

Origin

From the Arabic surname, from the adjective زكي (“chaste, pure”). Compare Zaky.

Zamani

Persian

Borrowed from Persian زمانی (zamâni).

Zambia

Origin

Named after the Zambezi River, which runs through the country.

Zamboni

Origin

Named after Frank J. Zamboni, the American inventor who built the first ice-resurfacing machine; his brand name became the everyday word for the machine itself.

Zambrano

Spanish

From Spanish, of Basque origin. Usually a common surname in Ecuador.

Zan

Origin

From Georgian ზანური (zanuri).

zander

French

Borrowed from German Zander, itself traced back through Middle Low German to a Slavic source; it's a doublet of the French-derived word "sandre."

Zane

Origin

Popularized by the American writer Zane Grey (born Pearl Zane Gray), whose middle name was his mother's family surname.

zany

Italian

From Italian zanni, the name of a clowning stock character in old Italian comedy, itself a form of the name Giovanni (John).

Zanzibar

Classical Persian

Ultimately from Classical Persian زنگبار (zangibār), literally meaning “black-skinned coast”.

zap

Origin · 1920

An imitative word from 1920s American English, invented to mimic the sound of a sudden electric burst — first popularized in comic strips.

zapatera

Spanish

From the Spanish phrase aceituna zapatera, literally an olive gone bad enough to be fit only for a cobbler's use rather than eating.

Zappa

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Zappa.

zapper

Origin

From zap + -er.

zar

Origin

From Arabic زَار (zār).

Zara

Origin

A 20th-century variant of Sarah, or explained as Arabic زَهْرَة (zahra, “flower”); given to the daughter of Princess Anne in 1981.

Zarina

Origin

From Tatar Зара (Zara). Cognate with Persian زر (zar, “gold”), زرین (zarin, “golden”), Old Church Slavonic злато (zlato), and Russian зо́лото (zóloto).

zayde

Origin

From Yiddish זיידע (zeyde, “grandfather”).

Zaza

Origin

The ethnic name comes from Zazaki, the group's own language, though its ultimate origin is debated and the term is considered by some Zazas to be derogatory; the marijuana slang sense is a much more recent, unrelated coinage.

ze

Dutch

Possibly influenced by the Dutch pronoun zij; coined in English as one of several proposed gender-neutral pronoun systems.

zeal

Old French

From Old French zel, ultimately from Greek zēlos ("zeal, jealousy") — the same root that gives us "zealous" and "jealous."

Zealand

Dutch

From Danish Sjælland; unrelated in spelling origin to New Zealand, which was named after the Dutch province Zeeland.

zealot

Greek

From Greek zēlōtēs ("zealous follower"), from zēlos ("zeal"); originally the name for a fierce anti-Roman Jewish faction before it became a general word for any fanatic.

zealotic

Origin

From zealot + -ic.

zealotry

Origin

From zealot + -ry.

zealous

Latin

From Latin zēlōsus, from zēlus ("zeal"); a doublet of "jealous," which took a different meaning down a separate path.

Zeb

Origin

A clipped, informal form of the longer biblical names Zebadiah, Zebedee, Zebulon, or Zebulun.

zebra

Latin

Traced through Portuguese zebra/zebro back to Latin equiferus ("wild horse"), from equus ("horse") + ferus ("wild").

zed

Old French

From Old French zede, ultimately from Greek zēta — the same root behind the American name "zee," which developed later by analogy with "bee" and "dee."

zee

Origin · 1828

Likely formed by analogy with other letter names like "bee" and "dee"; standardized in the US after Noah Webster's dictionary in 1828.

Zeek

Origin

From the German surname, Americanized from Seek or Sick.

Zeeland

Dutch

From Dutch Zeeland.

zeitgeist

German

From German Zeit "time" and Geist "spirit", literally "spirit of the time".

Zelda

Origin

Shortened from Griselda.

zelkova

Origin

From New Latin (genus name) from Russian дзе́льква (dzélʹkva, “tree, wood”), from Georgian ძელქვა (ʒelkva), from Old Georgian ძელქვაჲ (ʒelkvay), from ძელი (ʒeli, “beam”) + ქვაჲ (kvay, “stone”).

Zen

Sanskrit

From Japanese zen, itself from a Chinese word for meditation that traces all the way back to the Sanskrit dhyana ("meditation").

zenana

Origin

From Hindi ज़नाना (zanānā), Urdu زنانه (zanānah), from Classical Persian زنانه (zanāna, “womanly”), from زن (zan, “woman”). Related to Old English cwene (“woman”). More at quean.

Zeng

Origin

From the pinyin romanization of Mandarin 曾 (Zēng).