zebra

See also: Zebra, zébra, zebră, zebrā, zebrą, żebra, and žebra

Languages (24)

English

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English

Grant's zebra (Equus quagga boehmi)

Etymology

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”). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

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.

Pronunciation

• (Commonwealth, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈzɛbɹə/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

  • Hyphenation: zeb‧ra
  • Rhymes: -ɛbɹə
• (Canada, US, and traditionally UK) IPA^(key): /ˈziːbɹə/, (Indic) /ˈzibrɑ/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: ze‧bra

Noun

zebra (plural zebra or zebras)

2. Any of three species of subgenus Hippotigris: Equus grevyi, Equus quagga, or Equus zebra, all with black and white stripes and native to Africa.
   • 2019 June 6, “A gaggle, a confusion and a conspiracy - bizarre animal collective group names”, in BBC‎^[2]:

     A group of zebras can be called a dazzle.

3. (sports, slang) A referee.
4. (medicine, slang) An unlikely diagnosis, especially for symptoms probably caused by a common ailment.
   • 2005 March 7, “Apologies and Rememberances”, in Good Witch, season 1, episode 2 (TV), spoken by Dr. Sam Radford and Cassie Nightingale (James Denton and Catherine Bell), via Hallmark:

     "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 looking for the obvious when I should have been looking for the zebra! George is just having an allergic reaction to a combination of chemicals from all the stains and paints he's been using in the garage."

5. (medicine, by extension) Someone who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or hypermobility spectrum disorder
   • 2020, Pharmaceutical Technology‎^[3]:

     EDS charities around the world use a zebra logo to promote the idea that sometimes it really is that ‘rare’ condition.

   • 2022 December 24, CNN‎^[4]:

     “I was told in medical school, ‘when you hear hoofbeats think horses, not zebras,’” she says. Many trainee doctors receive the same advice – when a patient presents with symptoms, “look for the common thing.” That’s why EDS patients commonly refer to themselves as zebras – and also use the fabulous collective noun “dazzle.” The name represents rarity and evokes the stripy stretch marks that are a common feature on EDS skin.

6. (derogatory, slang, ethnic slur) A biracial person, specifically one born to a Sub-Saharan African person and a white person.
   • 2021 April 10, Alex Clark, “‘I’m 51, I can say what I want’: Leone Ross has overcome her fears”, in The Guardian:

     “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.”

7. (informal) A zebra cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata).
8. Any of various papilionid butterflies of the subgenus Paranticopsis of the genus Graphium, having black and white markings.
9. A zebra crossing.
   • 2010, Mick Herron, Slow Horses, page 247:

     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 . . .

10. (chess) 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.

Usage notes

• (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.

Hyponyms

• (animal of genus Equus): Burchell's zebra, Grevy's zebra, quagga, plains zebra, mountain zebra
• (unlikely diagnosis): fascinoma

Derived terms

• Burchell's zebra (Equus quagga burchellii)
• Cape mountain zebra
• Chapman's zebra (Equus quagga chapmani)
• common zebra (Equus quagga)
• Crawshay's zebra (Equus quagga crawshayi)
• Damaraland zebra (Equus quagga burchellii)
• Grant's zebra (Equus quagga boehmi)
• Grevy's zebra, Grévy's zebra (Equus grevyi)
• Hartmann's mountain zebra (Equus zebra hartmannae)
• maneless zebra (Equus quagga borensis)
• mountain zebra (Equus zebra)
• Persian zebra (Equus hermionus onager)
• plains zebra (Equus quagga
• Selous's zebra (Equus quagga selousi)
• zebra acara (Nannacara adoketa)
• zebra antelope (Cephalophus zebra)
• zebra blue butterfly (Leptotes plinius )
• zebra butterfly (Heliconius charithonia)
• zebra cake
• zebra caterpillar (Melanchra picta)
• zebra chip
• zebra cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata)
• zebra crossing
• zebra danio (Danio rerio)
• zebra dove (Geopelia striata)
• zebra duiker (Cephalophus zebra)
• zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata)
• zebrafish, zebra fish (Danio rerio etc.)
• zebra giraffe (Okapia johnstoni)
• zebra haworthia (Haworthiopsis attenuata)
• zebraic
• zebralike
• zebra lionfish (Dendrochirus zebra)
• zebra mongoose (Mungos mungo)
• zebra mouse
• zebra mule
• zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha)
• zebra opossum (†Thylacinus cynocephalus)
• zebra parakeet
• zebra parrot (Melopsittacus undulatus)
• zebra plant
• zebra poison (Euphorbia arborea)
• zebra seahorse
• zebra shark (Stegostoma fasciatum)
• zebra spider (Salticus scenicus)
• zebrass
• zebra striping
• zebra swallowtail (Protographium marcellus)
• zebra-tailed lizard, Callisaurus draconoides
• zebra turkeyfish (Dendrochirus zebra)
• zebra wolf (†Thylacinus cynocephalus)
• zebrawood (Microberlinia spp., etc.)
• zebrine
• zebroid
• zeedonk
• zeehorse
• zorse
• Zululand zebra (Equus quagga burchellii)

Translations

African animal

• Afrikaans: kwagga (af), sebra (af)
• Albanian: zebër (sq) m
• Amharic: የሜዳ አህያ (yämeda ʾähya)
• Arabic: حِمَار وَحْشِيّ m (ḥimār waḥšiyy), حِمَار وَحْشِيّ مُخَطَّط m (ḥimār waḥšiyy muḵaṭṭaṭ), حِمَار الزَّرَد m (ḥimār az-zarad)
• Aragonese: zebra
• Armenian: զեբր (hy) (zebr), (rare) վագրաձի (hy) (vagraji)
• Assamese: জেব্ৰা (zebra), জেবেৰা (zebera)
• Asturian: cebra (ast) f
• Azerbaijani:

  Arabic: گوره خر (gûræ-khær), چول آتی (choul-ati)

  Latin: zebr (az), zebra (az), gurəxər, çölatı

• Basque: zebra (eu)
• Belarusian: зе́бра f (zjébra)
• Bengali: জেবরা (bn) (jebora)
• Bidayuh:

  Bau Bidayuh: kuda britik

• Brazilian Sign Language: CAVALO^LISTRA
• Breton: roudenneg (br) m, zebr (br) m
• Bulgarian: зе́бра (bg) f (zébra)
• Burmese: မြင်းကျား (my) (mrang:kya:)
• Catalan: zebra (ca) f
• Cherokee: ᏐᏈᎵ ᏧᎶᎸᏗ (soquili tsulolvdi), ᏐᏈᎵ ᏧᎵᏍᏆᏓᏃᎯ (soquili tsulisquadanohi)
• Cheyenne: nêškovávo'ha
• Chichewa: mbidzi
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 斑馬 / 斑马 (baan¹ maa⁵)

  Hakka: 斑馬 / 斑马 (pân-mâ)

  Hokkien: 斑馬 / 斑马 (zh-min-nan) (pan-má, pan-bé), 花條馬 / 花条马 (hoe-tiâu-bé), 花斑馬 / 花斑马 (hoe-pan-bé)

  Mandarin: 斑馬 / 斑马 (zh) (bānmǎ), (obsolete) 福祿 / 福禄 (zh) (fúlù)

  Wu: 斑馬 / 斑马 (¹pe-mo)

• Cornish: zebra
• Czech: zebra (cs) f
• Danish: zebra (da) c
• Dhivehi: ޒިބްރާ (zibrā)
• Dutch: zebra (nl) m
• Esperanto: zebro (eo)
• Estonian: sebra (et)
• Finnish: seepra (fi)
• French: zèbre (fr) m
• Galician: cebra (gl) f
• Georgian: ზებრა (zebra)
• German: Zebra (de) n, Tigerpferd (de) n
• Greek: ζέβρος (el) m (zévros), ζέβρα (el) f (zévra), όναγρος (el) m (ónagros)
• Greenlandic: siutituut nimeruaartut
• Hadza: dongo m, dongoko f, hantaii
• Haitian Creole: zèb
• Hebrew: זֶבְּרָה (he) f (zébra)
• Hindi: ज़ीब्रा m (zībrā), ज़ेब्रा m (zebrā), जेबरा (hi) m (jebrā), जबरा (hi) m (jabrā), जेब्रा m (jebrā), गोरखर (hi) m (gorkhar)
• Hungarian: zebra (hu)
• Icelandic: sebrahestur (is) m
• Indonesian: zebra (id)
• Interlingua: zebra
• Irish: séabra
• Italian: zebra (it)
• Japanese: 縞馬 (ja) (しまうま, shimauma), シマウマ (ja) (shimauma)
• Kazakh: зебір (zebır), зебра (zebra)
• Khmer: សេះបង្កង់ (seh bɑngkɑng)
• Khoekhoe: ǃgoreb
• Kongo: mbizi
• Korean: 얼룩말 (ko) (eollungmal)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: zebra (ku)

• Kyrgyz: зебра (zebra)
• Ladin: zebra f
• Lao: ມ້າລາຍ (mā lāi)
• Latin: hippotīgris m or f
• Latvian: zebra (lv) f
• Limburgish: zaeber
• Lingala: zébélé, mpila
• Lithuanian: zebras (lt) m
• Luxembourgish: Zebra m
• Macedonian: зе́бра (mk) f (zébra)
• Malagasy: zebra (mg)
• Malay: kuda belang (ms), kuda habluk, kuda loreng
• Māori: hepara
• Melanau:

  Central Melanau: kudak gahet

• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: эрээн тахь (ereen taxʹ), судалт тахь (sudalt taxʹ)

  Mongolian script: ᠡᠷᠢᠶᠡᠨ
  ᠲᠠᠬᠢ (eriyen taki), ᠰᠤᠳᠠᠯᠲᠤ
  ᠲᠠᠬᠢ (sudaltu taki)

• Nahuatl: cebra
• Nandi: oloitigo
• Navajo: tééh łį́į́ʼ
• Nepali: जेब्रा (jebrā)
• Norman: zèbre m
• Northern Sotho: pitsi
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sebra (no) m

  Nynorsk: sebra m

• Occitan: zèbre (oc) m
• Oromo: harreddiidoo
• Papiamentu: zebra
• Pashto: بييی (biyay)
• Persian: گورخر (fa) (gurxar), زبرا (zebrâ)
• Plautdietsch: Zeebra n
• Polish: zebra (pl) f
• Portuguese: zebra (pt) f
• Quechua: siwra
• Romanian: zebră (ro) f
• Russian: зе́бра (ru) f (zébra)
• Scottish Gaelic: asal-stiallach m or f
• Senni:

  Koyraboro Senni: ganjifarka

• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: зебра f

  Latin: zebra (sh) f

• Shona: mbizi
• Sindhi: زيبرو (sd) m (zebro), زيبرِي f (zebrī)
• Sinhalese: සීබ්‍රා (sībrā)
• Slovak: zebra (sk) f
• Slovene: zebra (sl) f
• Spanish: cebra (es) f, zebra (es) f (tsebra, disused)
• Swahili: punda milia (sw) class 9/10
• Swedish: zebra (sv) c, sebra (sv) c
• Tagalog: sebra
• Tajik: гӯрхар (gürxar), зебра (zebra)
• Tamil: வரிக்குதிரை (ta) (varikkutirai)
• Tatar: зебра (zebra)
• Telugu: చారలగుర్రము (cāralagurramu)
• Thai: ม้าลาย (th) (máa-laai)
• Tibetan: རྐྱང་ཁྲ (rkyang khra)
• Tigrinya: ኣድጊ በረኻ (ʾadgi bäräxa), ዘብራ (zäbra)
• Tooro: entulege class 9
• Turkish: zebra (tr)
• Turkmen: zebra
• Ukrainian: зе́бра f (zébra)
• Unami: mamalsit nehënaonkès
• Uzbek: zebra (uz)
• Venda: mbiḓi
• Venetan: xebra
• Veps: zebr
• Vietnamese: ngựa vằn (vi) (馭𤝋)
• Volapük: sebrad
• Welsh: sebra m
• Wolof: fasu àll wi
• Xhosa: iqwarhashe
• Yiddish: זעברע (zebre)
• Yoruba: kẹ́tẹ́kẹ́tẹ́ abilà
• Zulu: idube (zu)

See also

• quagga
• Equus burchelli, Equus grevyi, Equus quagga, Equus zebra

Anagrams

• Zaber, braze

Basque

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish cebra.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /s̻ebra/ [s̻e.β̞ra]

• IPA^(key): (most dialects) /s̻ebra/ [s̻e.β̞ra]
• IPA^(key): (Biscayan) /s̺ebra/ [s̺e.β̞ra]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ebra, -a
• Hyphenation: ze‧bra

Noun

zebra anim

1. zebra

Declension

Declension of zebra (anim a-stem)

	indefinite	singular	plural	proximal plural
absolutive	zebra	zebra	zebrak	zebrok
ergative	zebrak	zebrak	zebrek	zebrok
dative	zebrari	zebrari	zebrei	zebroi
genitive	zebraren	zebraren	zebren	zebron
comitative	zebrarekin	zebrarekin	zebrekin	zebrokin
causative	zebrarengatik	zebrarengatik	zebrengatik	zebrongatik
benefactive	zebrarentzat	zebrarentzat	zebrentzat	zebrontzat
instrumental	zebraz	zebraz	zebrez	zebrotaz
innesive	zebrarengan	zebrarengan	zebrengan	zebrongan
locative	—	—	—	—
allative	zebrarengana	zebrarengana	zebrengana	zebrongana
terminative	zebrarenganaino	zebrarenganaino	zebrenganaino	zebronganaino
directive	zebrarenganantz	zebrarenganantz	zebrenganantz	zebronganantz
destinative	zebrarenganako	zebrarenganako	zebrenganako	zebronganako
ablative	zebrarengandik	zebrarengandik	zebrengandik	zebrongandik
partitive	zebrarik	—	—	—
prolative	zebratzat	—	—	—

Derived terms

• zebra-bide (“zebra crossing”)

Further reading

• “zebra”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “zebra”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan atzebra, from Old Galician-Portuguese *ezevra, *ezevro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈze.βɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈze.bɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈze.bɾa]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

Noun

zebra f (plural zebres)

1. zebra

Derived terms

• peix zebra
• zebrat

Further reading

• “zebra”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from English zebra, 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”).

Noun

zebra

1. a zebra; any of three species of genus Equus: E. grevyi, E. quagga, or E. zebra, all with black and white stripes and native to Africa
2. a pattern or motif similar to the stripes of a zebra
3. (informal) an animal with zebra-like stripes

Corsican

Etymology

From Portuguese zebra (“wild horse”), from zebro, from Old Galician-Portuguese zevro, from *ezevro, from Vulgar Latin *eciferus, from Latin *equiferus, from equus (“horse”) + ferus (“wild”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɛbra/

Noun

zebra f (plural zebre)

1. alternative form of zebru

References

• https://infcor.adecec.net/

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

Probably from Russian зебра (zebra), from Italian zebra

Noun

zebra

1. zebra

   Synonym: qaşqalı at

Declension

Declension of zebra

	singular	plural
nominative	zebra	zebralar
genitive	zebranıñ	zebralarnıñ
dative	zebrağa	zebralarğa
accusative	zebranı	zebralarnı
locative	zebrada	zebralarda
ablative	zebradan	zebralardan

References

• “zebra”, in Luğatçıq (in Russian)

Czech

Etymology

Derived from Portuguese zebra. First attested in the 19th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈzɛbra]

Noun

zebra f

1. zebra

Declension

Declension of zebra (hard feminine reducible)

	singular	plural
nominative	zebra	zebry
genitive	zebry	zeber
dative	zebře	zebrám
accusative	zebru	zebry
vocative	zebro	zebry
locative	zebře	zebrách
instrumental	zebrou	zebrami

Derived terms

• zebřička
• zebří

Further reading

• “zebra”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “zebra”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “zebra”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Danish

Noun

zebra c (singular definite zebraen, plural indefinite zebraer)

1. zebra

Declension

Declension of zebra

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	zebra	zebraen	zebraer	zebraerne
genitive	zebras	zebraens	zebraers	zebraernes

Derived terms

• zebrafinke c (“zebra finch”)

Dutch

Drie zebra's. — Three zebras (sense 1).

Een zekere zebra in Londen. — A certain zebra crossing in London.

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese 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”). The second sense is a shortening of zebrapad.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzeː.braː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ze‧bra

Noun

zebra m (plural zebra's, diminutive zebraatje n)

1. a zebra, a black-and-white striped equid of the genus Equus: Equus zebra, Equus quagga or Equus grevyi [from late 16th c.]

   Hyponyms: bergzebra, Grévyzebra, steppezebra

2. a zebra crossing, a pedestrian crossing [from mid 1950s.]

   Synonym: zebrapad

   Hypernym: oversteekplaats

Derived terms

• bergzebra
• Grévyzebra
• steppezebra
• zebrahaai
• zebrapad
• zebraprint

Esperanto

Etymology

From zebro (“zebra”) +‎ -a.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzebra/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ebra
• Syllabification: ze‧bra

Adjective

zebra (accusative singular zebran, plural zebraj, accusative plural zebrajn)

1. zebrine, hippotigrine

Hypernyms

• ekveda (“equid”)

Hungarian

Zebra [1]

Zebra [2]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈzɛbrɒ]
• Hyphenation: zeb‧ra
• Rhymes: -rɒ

Noun

zebra (plural zebrák)

1. (biology) zebra (animal)
2. (road transport) pedestrian crossing, crosswalk, zebra crossing

   Synonyms: gyalogátkelőhely, gyalogos-átkelőhely, gyalogátkelő

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
non-attributive possessive – singular	zebráé	zebráké
non-attributive possessive – plural	zebráéi	zebrákéi

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

Derived terms

(Compound words):

• zebrapinty

Further reading

• zebra in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch zebra.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈzebra/ [ˈze.bra]
• Rhymes: -ebra
• Syllabification: ze‧bra

Noun

zébra (plural zebra-zebra)

1. zebra (any of three species of subgenus Hippotigris of genus Equus)
2. (colloquial) zebra crossing (pedestrian crossing featuring broad white stripes)

   Synonym: jalan zebra

Compounds

• ikan zebra (“zebra cichlid, Amatitlania nigrofasciata”)
• jalan zebra (“zebra crossing”)
• kupu-kupu zebra (“zebra (butterfly), Graphium”)

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): ^*/ˈd͡zɛ.bra/
• Rhymes: -ɛbra
• Hyphenation: zè‧bra

Noun

zebra f (plural zebre)

1. zebra
2. (in the plural, informal) zebra crossing/crosswalk

Kashubian

Zebra.

Etymology

Borrowed from Polish zebra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɛ.bra/
• Rhymes: -ɛbra
• Syllabification: ze‧bra

Noun

zebra f

1. zebra (striped mammal of the genus Equus)

References

• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011), “zebra”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[5]

Ladin

Noun

zebra f (plural zebres)

1. zebra

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈzɛ.bra]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈd͡zɛː.bra]

Noun

zebra f (genitive zebrae); first declension

1. (New Latin) zebra (Equus zebra)

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	zebra	zebrae
genitive	zebrae	zebrārum
dative	zebrae	zebrīs
accusative	zebram	zebrās
ablative	zebrā	zebrīs
vocative	zebra	zebrae

Latvian

Zebra

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)

Noun

zebra f (4th declension)

1. zebra (esp. Equus zebra)

Declension

Declension of zebra (4th)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative	zebra	zebras
genitive	zebras	zebru
dative	zebrai	zebrām
accusative	zebru	zebras
instrumental	zebru	zebrām
locative	zebrā	zebrās
vocative	zebra	zebras

Polish

zebry sense 1

zebra sense 2

Etymology

Borrowed from French zèbre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɛ.bra/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛbra
• Syllabification: ze‧bra

Noun

zebra f

2. zebra (any equid of the subgenus Hippotigris)
4. (colloquial) crosswalk, pedestrian crossing, zebra crossing (pedestrian crossing featuring broad white stripes)

   Synonyms: pasy, przejście dla pieszych

5. black and white striped pattern

Declension

Declension of zebra

	singular	plural
nominative	zebra	zebry
genitive	zebry	zebr
dative	zebrze	zebrom
accusative	zebrę	zebry
instrumental	zebrą	zebrami
locative	zebrze	zebrach
vocative	zebro	zebry

Related terms

nouns

• zebroid
• zebrula
• zebryna

Descendants

• → Kashubian: zebra

Further reading

• zebra in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• zebra in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• zebry in PWN's encyclopedia

Portuguese

zebra (Equus quagga antiquorum) (sense 1)

zebra (sense 5)

zebra (sense 6)

zebra (sense 9)

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *HéHḱus

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éḱwos

Proto-Italic *ekwos

Latin equus

Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰwer-der.

Latin ferus

Latin equiferus

Old Galician-Portuguese zevro

Portuguese zebra

From zebro, from Old Galician-Portuguese zevro (“European wild ass”), from Vulgar Latin *eciferus, from Latin equiferus (“wild horse”), from equus (“horse”) + ferus (“wild”). Compare Spanish cebra.

Senses 2 and 3 of the word comes from the popular Brazilian betting game jogo do bicho, in which the animal is absent, therefore it is unlikely that a zebra will be drawn.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈze.bɾɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈze.bɾɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈze.bɾa/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈze.bɾɐ/ [ˈze.βɾɐ]

• Hyphenation: ze‧bra

Noun

zebra f (plural zebras)

1. zebra
   • 1844, Alexandre Herculano, chapter XVI, in Eurico, o Presbítero:

     Para aqueles, todavia, que não estivessem afeitos a perseguir a zebra pelas encostas escarpadas, a galgar os precipícios após a cabra mon­tês e a combater com os ursos e javalis nas bordas dos fojos, sem se lhes turbar a vista; para esses tais a ponte vegetal dos astúrios seria um sítio arriscado.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (Brazil, slang) A victorious competitor initially thought unlikely to win, especially in sports; an underdog

   Synonym: azarão

   Aquele time ganhou quando todo mundo pensou que ele iria perder, mas que zebra!

   That [soccer] team won when everyone else thought they were going to lose, what an underdog!

3. (Brazil, slang) an unexpected result in a competition
4. (Brazil, derogatory) idiot, stupid person

   Synonym: burro

   • 1872, Machado de Assis, chapter III, in Canseiras em vão:

     — Ah! já sei, disse ele; receou ofender a suscetibilidade da formosa senhora. É um homem polido… e tolo, creio eu. Tanto melhor, não me dou com espertos e malcriados. Carta a Z. Z. Z. Que querem dizer estas letras? Serão também simbólicas? Três vezes zebra, talvez quisesse dizer de si mesmo o anunciante. Pois, senhor, é comigo.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1879, Artur de Azevedo, “Ato Primeiro”, in A Joia, Cena VII:

     Não sou zebra, que, se quer balas alguém, compra-as a três por vintém.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

5. (Brazil, informal) prison uniform
6. (Portugal, informal) zebra crossing
7. (Portugal, informal) vice, a bad habit
8. (Beira) a type of lanky spinning top
9. (motor racing) curb (line of flat curbstones on the corners of racing tracks)
10. zebra pattern
    • 1994, chapter I, in Decreto-Lei de Portugal 114 de 1994 (Código da estrada português), Artigo 6º - Sinais:

      Passagem para peões, constituída por bandas em zebra, paralelas ao eixo da via, ou por duas linhas transversais contínuas (M11 e M11ª): indica o local por onde os peões devem efectuar o atravessamento da via.

      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

11. (obsolete) cow

Usage notes

The gender of this Portuguese zoonym is always feminine: when the gender of the being itself must be specified, zebra-macho for male and zebra-fêmea for female. Here, macho is treated as an undeclinable noun and doesn't necessarily need to agree in gender with the referent, but would change to macha if so.

Derived terms

• amboré-zebra (Gobiosoma hemigymnum)
• azebrar
• borboleta-zebra
• bótia-zebra (Botia striata)
• bromélia-zebra (Aechmea chantinii)
• cabrito-zebra (Cephalophus zebra)
• cascudo-zebra (Hypancistrus zebra)
• cirurgião-zebra (Acanthurus lineatus)
• dar zebra
• dourada-zebra (Brachyplatystoma juruense)
• galinha-zebra (Dendrochirus zebra)
• linguado-zebra (Gymnachirus nudus)
• mexilhão-zebra (Dreissena polymorpha)
• moreia-zebra (Gymnomuraena zebra)
• paleta-zebra (Branchiostegus semifasciatus)
• peixe-zebra
• planta-zebra
• tubarão-zebra (Stegostoma tigrinum)
• zebra-comum (Equus quagga)
• zebra-da-montanha (Equus zebra)
• zebra-da-planície (Equus quagga)
• zebra-de-burchell (Equus quagga burchellii)
• zebra-de-chapmann (Equus quagga chapmani)
• zebra-de-grant (Equus quagga boehmi)
• zebra-de-grevy (Equus grevyi)
• zebrado
• zebral
• zebralo
• zebrano
• zebrar
• zebrário
• zebrasno
• zebrino
• zebroide

Related terms

• égua
• equestre
• equino
• equitação
• Felipe
• Filipe
• Filipinas
• filipino
• hipismo
• hipo-
• hipódromo
• hipogrifo
• Hipólito
• hipopótamo

Descendants

• → German: Zebra
  • → Hunsrik: Zebra
• → Italian: zebra
  • → English: zebra
  • → Turkish: zebra
• → New Latin: zebra

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈzɛ.bɾɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈzɛ.bɾɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈzɛ.bɾa/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈzɛ.bɾɐ/ [ˈzɛ.βɾɐ]

• Hyphenation: ze‧bra

Verb

zebra

1. inflection of zebrar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “zebra”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “zebra” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “zebra”, in Dicio – Dicionário Online de Português (in Portuguese), São Paulo: 7Graus, 2009–2026
• “zebra”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “zebra”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “zebra”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zêbra/

Noun

zȅbra f (Cyrillic spelling зе̏бра)

1. zebra

Declension

Declension of zebra

	singular	plural
nominative	zebra	zebre
genitive	zebre	zebra
dative	zebri	zebrama
accusative	zebru	zebre
vocative	zebro	zebre
locative	zebri	zebrama
instrumental	zebrom	zebrama

Slovene

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zèːbra/, /zéːbra/

Noun

zẹ̄bra f

1. zebra

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Feminine, a-stem
nom. sing.	zébra
gen. sing.	zébre
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	zébra	zébri	zébre
genitive (rodȋlnik)	zébre	zéber	zéber
dative (dajȃlnik)	zébri	zébrama	zébram
accusative (tožȋlnik)	zébro	zébri	zébre
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	zébri	zébrah	zébrah
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	zébro	zébrama	zébrami

Further reading

• “zebra”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtsebɾa/ [ˈt̪se.β̞ɾa]
• Rhymes: -ebɾa

Noun

zebra f (plural zebras)

1. obsolete spelling of cebra

Further reading

• “zebra”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

en zebra

Alternative forms

• sebra

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²seːbra/

Noun

zebra c

1. zebra

   Zebror är randiga / har ränder

   Zebras are striped / have stripes

   – Vilket djur på savannen har bäst syn? – Zebra!

   – Which animal on the savannah has the best eyesight? – Zebra! ["se-bra" (see-well) – widespread schoolyard joke, though the pronunciation doesn't match perfectly]

Declension

Declension of zebra

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	zebra	zebras
	definite	zebran	zebrans
plural	indefinite	zebror	zebrors
	definite	zebrorna	zebrornas

References

• zebra in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• zebra in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• zebra in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian zebra, from Italian zebra, from Portuguese zebra, from Old Galician-Portuguese ezebra (“wild horse”), from Vulgar Latin *eciferus, from Latin equiferus (“wild horse”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈzeb.ɾɑ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: zeb‧ra

Noun

zebra (definite accusative zebrayı, plural zebralar)

1. zebra

Declension

Declension of zebra

	singular	plural
nominative	zebra	zebralar
definite accusative	zebrayı	zebraları
dative	zebraya	zebralara
locative	zebrada	zebralarda
ablative	zebradan	zebralardan
genitive	zebranın	zebraların