zot

English

Etymology 1

A sound effect. Popularized by the Usenet Oracle, a humorous Internet advice service, where the word was used as an irritated dismissal of a question.

Verb

zot (third-person singular simple present zots, present participle zotting, simple past and past participle zotted)

1. (slang) To zap, kill, or destroy.
   • 1980, Kit Reed, Magic time

     I reached for the handle and it zotted me — an electric shock to the elbow.

   • 1997, "Matt Lepinski", Zotting (on Internet newsgroup rec.humor.oracle.d)

     I've heard rumors about the oracle zotting people and I have these questions about zot?

   • 1997, "Terry Moore", COPS PUT LIVES ON LINE? (on Internet newsgroup austin.general)

     When a taxi driver, convenience store clerk, pizza deliverer, etc., gets zotted, it is on the back page of the local newspaper and not in out of town newspapers at all.

   • 1998, "RosieDawg", watergardening and dogs and Rosie's new toy, OT-ish (on Internet newsgroup rec.ponds)

     electric fence - zotting me was fine (well really!) but they were worried about zotting the several dozen human puppies that hang around at our house.

Etymology 2

Sound effect associated with either lightning or an anteater character in the comic strip BC.

Noun

zot (plural zots)

1. (US, slang) an anteater.

Interjection

zot

1. (US) The characteristic sound made by an anteater.

Usage notes

• Associated with the UC Irvine Anteaters.

---

Albanian

Pronunciation

• IPA: [zɔt]

Etymology

From Old Albanian zota, from Proto-Albanian *dzwāpt, from earlier *w(i)tspáti, from Proto-Indo-European *u̯iḱpot(i)s ‘clan leader’ (compare Lithuanian viēšpats, Avestan vīspaitiš), compound of *u̯iḱ- ‘clan, extended family’ (compare Ancient Greek οἰκία (oikía) ‘house (clan)’, Avestan viθ- ‘royal court’) and *potis ‘master’ (compare Ancient Greek πόσις (pósis) ‘husband’, Tocharian A pats ‘id.’).

Noun

zot m

1. demiurge, divinity, deity, god, godhead
2. lord, master, don

Related terms

• zotëri (Tosk)
• zotëni (Gheg)

---

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɔt

Adjective

zot (comparative zotter, superlative zotst)

1. crazy
2. mad

Declension

Declension of zot

		positive	comparative	superlative
				attributive	predicative/adverbial
predicative/adverbial		zot	zotter
neuter singular	indefinite	zot	zotter
	definite	zotte	zottere	zotste	zotst, zotste
common singular		zotte	zottere	zotste	zotste
plural		zotte	zottere	zotste	zotste
partitive		zots	zotters

Usage notes

Mainly Brabantian.

Synonyms

• gek
• getikt
• gestoord

---

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From French les autres (“the other guys”).

In French, the plural word autres is commonly preceded by a word, such as aux, les or mes, whose final s or x is not pronounced except in front of vowels, where it is pronounced /z/. As a result, there was a misconception among Mauritians not well-acquainted with the French language that the singular word started with /z/.

Pronoun

zot

1. you, y'all (second-person plural personal pronoun)
2. they, them (third-person plural personal pronoun)

Usage notes

When usage might be ambiguous, zot is reserved for second-person plural and bann-la is used instead for third-person plural.

See also

Mauritian Creole personal pronouns

			singular	plural
1st person			mo mwa (objective)	nou
2nd person			to (informal), ou (formal) twa (objective)	zot
3rd person			li	zot, bann-la