zebra
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zebra¹
- /ˈzɛb.ɹə/ Commonwealth
- /ˈziː.bɹə/
- /ˈziːb.rɑː/ South Asia
Rhymes with -ɛbɹə
Where it comes from
First attested in 1600. Borrowed from Italian zebra, from Portuguese zebra, zebro (“zebra”), from Old Galician-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”).
While the word was traditionally pronounced with a long vowel in the first syllable in standard English, during the twentieth century a vowel shift occurred in regions of England, with the shortening of the first vowel. This pronunciation is now used throughout the UK and most Commonwealth nations. The long-vowel pronunciation remains standard in Canadian and American English and is used in the UK only by some older, conservative RP speakers.
(unlikely diagnosis): Originates in the advice often given to medical students, "when you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras".
(referee): In reference to the black and white striped shirts they wear.
noun zebra · zebras
- Any of three species of subgenus Hippotigris: Equus grevyi, Equus quagga, or Equus zebra, all with black and white stripes and native to Africa. A group of zebras can be called a dazzle.
- A referee.
- An unlikely diagnosis, especially for symptoms probably caused by a common ailment. "It's a zebra! George. OK, I should explain. A zebra is..." "Medical slang for coming to an exotic diagnosis when a more simple explanation is more likely." "That's right. I was convinced that George, given his age and symptoms, had some kind of cardiac issue. It fit, it made sense. Because I was lo
- Someone who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or hypermobility spectrum disorder EDS charities around the world use a zebra logo to promote the idea that sometimes it really is that ‘rare’ condition.
- A biracial person, specifically one born to a Sub-Saharan African person and a white person. “People change countries for all kinds of reasons,” Ross tells me. “But at least one of them was that she had this light-skinned, mixed-race child who had already been called a zebra at school.”
- A zebra cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata).
- Any of various papilionid butterflies of the subgenus Paranticopsis of the genus Graphium, having black and white markings.
- A zebra crossing. On his way home he'd picked up two economy-sized bags of tortilla chips, and had dropped both when a twat in a Lexus honked him on a zebra . . .
- A fairy chess piece that is moved three squares in one direction and two at right angles to that direction in a single move, leaping over any intervening pieces.
Zebra²
noun
-
radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter Z.
Similar: Zulu
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: cat, mussel, finch, equus, finches, zeebra, quagga, zebra duiker, grévy's zebra, plains zebra, quagha, mountain zebra, grant's zebra, zebra antelope, kwagga, burchell's zebra
Translations
Every language
noun African animal
| Español | cebra, zebra (tsebra, disused) |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 얼룩말 eollungmal |
| 日本語 | 縞馬 shimauma, シマウマ shimauma |
| 中文 | 斑馬 /斑马 bānmǎ, 福祿 /福禄 fúlù |
| हिन्दी | ज़ीब्रा zībrā, ज़ेब्रा zebrā, जेबरा jebrā, जबरा jabrā, जेब्रा jebrā, गोरखर gorkhar |
| Kiswahili | punda milia |
| Português | zebra |
| Français | zèbre |
| Deutsch | Zebra, Tigerpferd |
| Italiano | zebra |
| Ελληνικά | ζέβρος zévros, ζέβρα zévra, όναγρος ónagros |
| Română | zebră |
| Русский | зе́бра zébra |
| Tiếng Việt | ngựa vằn |
| العربية | حِمَار وَحْشِيّ ḥimār waḥšiyy, حِمَار وَحْشِيّ مُخَطَّط ḥimār waḥšiyy muḵaṭṭaṭ, حِمَار الزَّرَد ḥimār az-zarad |
| עברית | זֶבְּרָה zébra |
Talk about this word "zebra." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/zebra. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. zebra. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/zebra "zebra." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/zebra.Cite this
@misc{zebra_2026,
title = {zebra},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/zebra},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
