zebra
English
Etymology
1600; borrowed from Italian zebra, from Portuguese zebra, zebro (“zebra”), from Old Portuguese enzebro, ezebra, azebra (“wild ass”), from earlier cebrario (882), ezebrario (897), from Vulgar Latin *eciferus, from Latin equiferus (“wild horse”) (Pliny), from equus (“horse”) + ferus (“wild”).
(biracial person): The term zebra, as used in its pejorative sense, was popularized on the television situation comedy The Jeffersons. The term was used by the series protagonist, George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley), to express disdain for his daughter-in-law, Jenny Willis Jefferson, whose father was white and mother was black.
While the word was traditionally pronounced with a long initial vowel in standard English, during the twentieth century a vowel shift occurred in regions of England, with the adoption of an initial short vowel.[1] This pronunciation is now used throughout the UK and Commonwealth. The long vowel pronunciation remains standard in American English.
Pronunciation
- (UK, Commonwealth) IPA(key): /ˈzɛbɹə/, /ˈziːbɹə/
Audio (UK) (file) - Hyphenation: zeb‧ra
- (US and trad. English) IPA(key): /ˈziːbɹə/
Audio (US) (file) - Hyphenation: ze‧bra
Noun
zebra (plural zebra or zebras)
- Any of three species of genus Equus: E. grevyi, E. quagga, or E. zebra, all with black and white stripes and native to Africa.
- (sports, slang) A referee.
- (medicine, slang) An unlikely diagnosis, especially for symptoms probably caused by a common ailment. (Originates in the advice often given to medical students: "When you hear hoof beats, think of horses, not zebras.")
- (vulgar, derogatory, slang) A biracial person, specifically one born to a member of the Sub-Saharan African race and a Caucasian.
- (informal) A fish, the zebra cichlid.
Synonyms
- (unusual diagnosis): fascinoma
Hyponyms
- (animal of genus Equus): Burchell's zebra, Grevy's zebra, quagga, plains zebra, mountain zebra
Derived terms
- mountain zebra (Equus zebra)
- plains zebra (Equus quagga
- zebra acara (Nannacara adoketa)
- zebra cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata)
- zebra danio (Danio rerio)
- zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata)
- zebra fish (Danio rerio)
- zebra lionfish (Dendrochirus zebra)
- zebra mongoose (Mungos mungo)
- zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha)
- zebra shark (Stegostoma fasciatum)
- zebra spider (Salticus scenicus)
- zebra turkeyfish (Dendrochirus zebra)
- zebra wolf (†Thylacinus cynocephalus)
- zebrawood (Microberlinia spp., etc.)
- Burchell's zebra (Equus quagga burchellii)
- common zebra (Equus quagga)
- Grévy's zebra
- Grevy's zebra (Equus grevyi)
- Persian zebra (Equus hermionus onager)
- zebra butterfly (Heliconius charithonia)
- zebra cake
- zebra caterpillar (Melanchra picta)
- zebra crossing
- zebrafish
- zebra haworthia Haworthiopsis attenuata)
- zebraic
- zebralike
- zebra mule
- zebra opossum (†Thylacinus cynocephalus)
- zebra parakeet
- zebra parrot (Melopsittacus undulatus)
- zebra plant
- zebra poison (Euphorbia arborea)
- zebrass
- zebra swallowtail (Protographium marcellus)
- zebrine
- zebroid
- zeedonk
- zeehorse
- zorse
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
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See also
References
Basque
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Declension
(animate noun) declension of zebra
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Catalan
Cebuano
Etymology
Borrowed from English zebra, from Italian zebra, from Portuguese zebra, zebro (“zebra”), from Old Portuguese enzebro, ezebra, azebra (“wild ass”), from earlier cebrario (882), ezebrario (897), from Vulgar Latin *eciferus, from Latin equiferus (“wild horse”) (Pliny), from equus (“horse”) + ferus (“wild”).
Hungarian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈzɛbrɒ]
- Hyphenation: zeb‧ra
Noun
zebra (plural zebrák)
- (biology) zebra (animal)
- (road transport) pedestrian crossing, crosswalk, zebra crossing
Declension
Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony) | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
nominative | zebra | zebrák |
accusative | zebrát | zebrákat |
dative | zebrának | zebráknak |
instrumental | zebrával | zebrákkal |
causal-final | zebráért | zebrákért |
translative | zebrává | zebrákká |
terminative | zebráig | zebrákig |
essive-formal | zebraként | zebrákként |
essive-modal | — | — |
inessive | zebrában | zebrákban |
superessive | zebrán | zebrákon |
adessive | zebránál | zebráknál |
illative | zebrába | zebrákba |
sublative | zebrára | zebrákra |
allative | zebrához | zebrákhoz |
elative | zebrából | zebrákból |
delative | zebráról | zebrákról |
ablative | zebrától | zebráktól |
Possessive forms of zebra | ||
---|---|---|
possessor | single possession | multiple possessions |
1st person sing. | zebrám | zebráim |
2nd person sing. | zebrád | zebráid |
3rd person sing. | zebrája | zebrái |
1st person plural | zebránk | zebráink |
2nd person plural | zebrátok | zebráitok |
3rd person plural | zebrájuk | zebráik |
Synonyms
- (crosswalk): gyalogátkelőhely
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈd͡zɛb.ra/
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈzeː.bra/
Latvian
Etymology
Possibly ultimately from a Congolese name for the animal, via Portuguese, via some other European language. Possibly also ultimately from Latin equiferus (“wild horse”), via Portuguese and/or Italian.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈzɛbra/
audio (file)
Declension
Polish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈzɛ.bra/
(file)
Declension
Portuguese
Etymology
From zebro, from Old Portuguese zebro, ezebro (“European wild ass”), from Vulgar Latin *eciferus, from Latin equiferus (“wild horse”), from equus (“horse”) + ferus (“wild”). Compare Spanish cebra.
Pronunciation
Serbo-Croatian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /zêbra/
Slovene
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈzèːbra/, /ˈzéːbra/
- Tonal orthography: zẹ́bra, zẹ̑bra
Swedish
Alternative forms
Turkish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈzeb.ɾɑ]
- Hyphenation: zeb‧ra