zara

See also: Zara, zarā, zară, and žara

Basque

Pronunciation

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• IPA^(key): /s̻aɾa/ [s̻a.ɾa]

• IPA^(key): (most dialects) /s̻aɾa/ [s̻a.ɾa]
• IPA^(key): (Biscayan) /s̺aɾa/ [s̺a.ɾa]

• Rhymes: -aɾa, -a
• Hyphenation: za‧ra

Verb

zara

1. Second-person singular (zu) present indicative form of izan (“to be”).

Hausa

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zà.ɽáː/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [zə̀.ɽáː]

Noun

zàrā f (possessed form zàrar̃)

1. vacillation (moving from side to side)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zàː.ráː/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [zàː.ráː]

Noun

zā̀r̃ā f (possessed form zā̀r̃ar̃)

1. red-bellied tree starling

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zà.ɽáː/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [zə̀.ɽáː]

Verb

zàrā (grade 2)

1. to snatch, to grab

Italian

Alternative forms

• azara, azzara, zaro (rare)

Etymology

From Arabic اَلزَّهْر (az-zahr, “the dice”). The "loss" meaning derives from the habit of game players to yell out the game's name whenever a losing number came out. Doublet of azzardo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): ^*/ˈd͡za.ra/
• Rhymes: -ara
• Hyphenation: zà‧ra

Noun

zara f (plural zare)

1. (historical, games) a medieval game of chance using dice
   • 1321, Dante Alighieri, La divina commedia: Purgatorio [The Divine Comedy: Purgatory] (paperback), Bompiani, published 2001, Canto VI, lines 1–3:

     Quando si parte il gioco de la zara, ¶ colui che perde si riman dolente, ¶ repetendo le volte, e tristo impara;

     Whene'er is broken up the game of Zara, ¶ he who has lost remains behind despondent, ¶ the throws repeating, and in sadness learns

2. (archaic) a negative outcome, loss, defeat

   zara a chi tocca! ― (please add an English translation of this usage example) (literally, “loss to whomever's turn it is [to lose]!”, as in “the losers must accept their loss”)

   • 1478, Luigi Pulci, Morgante‎^[1], Felice Le Monnier, published 1855, Canto XVIII, page 28:

     Nè vo’ che tu credessi ch’io mi curi ¶ contro a questo o colui: zara a chi tocca

     And never, ever think that I may care whose toes I step on: let the loser pay!

Related terms

• azzardo

Further reading

• zara in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latvian

Noun

zara m

1. genitive singular of zars

Venetan

Etymology

Compare Italian giara.

Noun

zara

1. jar

Further reading

• Boerio, Giuseppe (1867) “zara”, in Dizionario del dialetto veneziano, 3rd edition, Venice: G. Cecchini, page 806c

Volapük

Noun

zara

1. genitive singular of zar