zed
The name of the Latin script letter Z/zThe name of the Latin script letter Z/z.
» Do you pronounce it "Zed" or "Zee"?
Meaning
4 senses(Commonwealth, Ireland)The name of the Latin script letter Z/z.
the 26th letter of the Roman alphabet
(Commonwealth, Ireland, in compounds)Something Z-shaped.
zed-bar
(Commonwealth, Ireland, colloquial, usually plural)Sleep.
I'm going to go get some zeds.
(Commonwealth, Ireland, slang)A zombie.
A horde of zeds began to shuffle into the shopping mall.
Examples
2 sentencesDo you pronounce it "Zed" or "Zee"?
In many dialects of English, the letter Z is pronounced "zed", not "zee".
Origin
From Middle English zed, zedde, zede, from Old French zede, from Late Latin zeta, from AncFrom 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 βῆτα (bêta), ἦτα (êta) and θῆτα (thêta). The letter had a rare 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.
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