zebra
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
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.[1] This pronunciation is now used throughout the UK and most Commonwealth nations. The long-vowel pronunciation remains standard in Canadian and American English.
(referee): In reference to the black and white striped shirts they wear.
Pronunciation[edit]
- (UK, Commonwealth) IPA(key): /ˈzɛbɹə/
Audio (UK) (file) - Hyphenation: zeb‧ra
- (Canadian, US and traditional British English) IPA(key): /ˈziːbɹə/
Audio (US) (file) - Hyphenation: ze‧bra
- Rhymes: (UK, Commonwealth) -ɛbɹə, -iːbɹə
Noun[edit]
zebra (plural zebra or zebras)
- Any of three species of subgenus Hippotigris: E. grevyi, E. quagga, or E. zebra, all with black and white stripes and native to Africa.
- (sports, slang) A referee.
- (medicine, slang) An unlikely diagnosis, especially for symptoms probably caused by a common ailment. (Originates in the advice often given to medical students: "when you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras".)
- (vulgar, derogatory, slang, ethnic slur) A biracial person, specifically one born to a member of the Sub-Saharan African race and a Caucasian.
- (informal) A fish, the zebra cichlid.
- Any of various papilionid butterflies of the subgenus Paranticopsis of the genus Graphium, having black and white markings.
- 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 . . .
Usage notes[edit]
- (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[edit]
- (animal of genus Equus): Burchell's zebra, Grevy's zebra, quagga, plains zebra, mountain zebra
- (unlikely diagnosis): fascinoma
Derived terms[edit]
- Burchell's zebra (Equus quagga burchellii)
- 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)
- 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 blue butterfly (Leptotes plinius )
- zebra butterfly (Heliconius charithonia)
- zebra cake
- zebra caterpillar (Melanchra picta)
- zebra cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata)
- zebra crossing
- zebra danio (Danio rerio)
- zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata)
- zebrafish
- zebra fish (Danio rerio)
- zebra haworthia (Haworthiopsis attenuata)
- zebraic
- zebralike
- zebra lionfish (Dendrochirus zebra)
- zebra mongoose (Mungos mungo)
- zebra mule
- zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha)
- zebra opossum (†Thylacinus cynocephalus)
- zebra parakeet
- zebra parrot (Melopsittacus undulatus)
- zebra plant
- zebra poison (Euphorbia arborea)
- zebra shark (Stegostoma fasciatum)
- zebra spider (Salticus scenicus)
- zebrass
- zebra striping
- zebra swallowtail (Protographium marcellus)
- zebra turkeyfish (Dendrochirus zebra)
- zebra wolf (†Thylacinus cynocephalus)
- zebrawood (Microberlinia spp., etc.)
- zebrine
- zebroid
- zeedonk
- zeehorse
- zorse
- Zululand zebra (Equus quagga burchellii)
Translations[edit]
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See also[edit]
References[edit]
Anagrams[edit]
Basque[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
zebra anim
Declension[edit]
indefinite | singular | plural | |
---|---|---|---|
absolutive | zebra | zebra | zebrak |
ergative | zebrak | zebrak | zebrek |
dative | zebrari | zebrari | zebrei |
genitive | zebraren | zebraren | zebren |
comitative | zebrarekin | zebrarekin | zebrekin |
causative | zebrarengatik | zebrarengatik | zebrengatik |
benefactive | zebrarentzat | zebrarentzat | zebrentzat |
instrumental | zebraz | zebraz | zebrez |
inessive | zebrarengan | zebrarengan | zebrengan |
locative | — | — | — |
allative | zebrarengana | zebrarengana | zebrengana |
terminative | zebrarenganaino | zebrarenganaino | zebrenganaino |
directive | zebrarenganantz | zebrarenganantz | zebrenganantz |
destinative | zebrarenganako | zebrarenganako | zebrenganako |
ablative | zebrarengandik | zebrarengandik | zebrengandik |
partitive | zebrarik | — | — |
prolative | zebratzat | — | — |
Catalan[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Inherited from Old Catalan atzebra, from Old Galician-Portuguese *ezevra, *ezevro.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
zebra f (plural zebres)
Derived terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “zebra” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
Cebuano[edit]
Etymology[edit]
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[edit]
zebra
- 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
- a pattern or motif similar to the stripes of a zebra
- (informal) an animal with zebra-like stripes
Corsican[edit]
Etymology[edit]
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[edit]
Noun[edit]
zebra f (plural zebre)
- Alternative form of zebru
References[edit]
Czech[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
zebra f
Declension[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- zebra in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
- zebra in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
Danish[edit]
Noun[edit]
zebra c (singular definite zebraen, plural indefinite zebraer)
Dutch[edit]


Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from Portuguese zebra, from Vulgar Latin *eciferus, from Latin equiferus (“wild horse”). The second sense is a shortening of zebrapad.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
zebra m (plural zebra's, diminutive zebraatje n)
- A zebra, a black-and-white striped equid of the genus Equus; Equus zebra, Equus quagga or Equus grevyi. [from late 16th c.]
- A zebra crossing, a pedestrian crossing. [from mid 1950s.]
- Synonym: zebrapad
Hypernyms[edit]
- (pedestrian crossing): oversteekplaats
Hyponyms[edit]
- (zebra): quagga
Derived terms[edit]
Esperanto[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Adjective[edit]
zebra (accusative singular zebran, plural zebraj, accusative plural zebrajn)
Hypernyms[edit]
Hungarian[edit]


Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
zebra (plural zebrák)
- (biology) zebra (animal)
- (road transport) pedestrian crossing, crosswalk, zebra crossing
Declension[edit]
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 |
Synonyms[edit]
- (crosswalk): gyalogátkelőhely
Derived terms[edit]
(Compound words):
Further reading[edit]
- zebra in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
Indonesian[edit]
Noun[edit]
zebra (first-person possessive zebraku, second-person possessive zebramu, third-person possessive zebranya)
- zebra
- zebra walk
Italian[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
zebra f (plural zebre)
- zebra
- (in the plural, informal) zebra crossing/crosswalk
Kashubian[edit]

Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
zebra f
References[edit]
- Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011), “zebra”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi
Ladin[edit]
Noun[edit]
zebra f (plural zebres)
Latin[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
zebra f (genitive zebrae); first declension
Declension[edit]
First-declension noun.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | zebra | zebrae |
Genitive | zebrae | zebrārum |
Dative | zebrae | zebrīs |
Accusative | zebram | zebrās |
Ablative | zebrā | zebrīs |
Vocative | zebra | zebrae |
Latvian[edit]

Etymology[edit]
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[edit]
Noun[edit]
zebra f (4th declension)
- zebra (esp. Equus zebra)
Declension[edit]
Polish[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
zebra f
- zebra (animal)
- (colloquial) zebra crossing
- Synonyms: przejście dla pieszych, pasy
Declension[edit]
Descendants[edit]
- → Kashubian: zebra
Further reading[edit]
- zebra in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- zebra in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Portuguese[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From zebro, from Old Galician-Portuguese zebro, ezebro (“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 abscent, therefore it is unlikely that a zebra will be drawn.
Pronunciation[edit]
- Hyphenation: ze‧bra
Noun[edit]
zebra f (plural zebras)
- zebra
- (Brazil, slang) A victorious competitor initially thought unlikely to win, especially in sports; an underdog
- 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 a underdog!
- Synonym: azarão
- (Brazil, slang) an unexpected result in a competition
- (Brazil, derogatory) idiot, stupid
- Synonym: burro
- (Brazil, informal) prison uniform
- (Portugal, informal) zebra crossing
- (Portugal, informal) vice, a bad habit
- (Beira) a type of lanky spinning top
- (motor racing) curb (line of flat curbstones on the corners of racing tracks)
- zebra pattern
- (obsolete) cow
Usage notes[edit]
- The gender of this Portuguese word is always feminine. When the gender of the being itself must be specified, use “zebra macho” for male, and “zebra fêmea” for female.
Quotations[edit]
For quotations using this term, see Citations:zebra.
Derived terms[edit]
- 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
Descendants[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Pronunciation[edit]
- Hyphenation: ze‧bra
Verb[edit]
zebra
- inflection of zebrar:
Further reading[edit]
- “zebra” in iDicionário Aulete.
- “zebra” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
- “zebra” in Dicionário Online de Português.
- “zebra” in Dicionário inFormal.
- “zebra” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2023.
- “zebra” in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa.
- “zebra” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.
Serbo-Croatian[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
zȅbra f (Cyrillic spelling зе̏бра)
Declension[edit]
Slovene[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
zẹ̄bra f
Inflection[edit]
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[edit]
- “zebra”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
Spanish[edit]
Noun[edit]
zebra f (plural zebras)
- Obsolete spelling of cebra
Further reading[edit]
- “zebra”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swedish[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Noun[edit]
zebra c
Declension[edit]
Declension of zebra | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | zebra | zebran | zebror | zebrorna |
Genitive | zebras | zebrans | zebrors | zebrornas |
References[edit]
- zebra in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- zebra in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- zebra in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
Turkish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
zebra (definite accusative zebrayı, plural zebralar)
Declension[edit]
Inflection | ||
---|---|---|
Nominative | zebra | |
Definite accusative | zebrayı | |
Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | zebra | zebralar |
Definite accusative | zebrayı | zebraları |
Dative | zebraya | zebralara |
Locative | zebrada | zebralarda |
Ablative | zebradan | zebralardan |
Genitive | zebranın | zebraların |
- English terms borrowed from Italian
- English terms derived from Italian
- English terms derived from Portuguese
- English terms derived from Old Galician-Portuguese
- English terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛbɹə
- Rhymes:English/ɛbɹə/2 syllables
- Rhymes:English/iːbɹə
- Rhymes:English/iːbɹə/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English indeclinable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- en:Sports
- English slang
- en:Medicine
- English vulgarities
- English derogatory terms
- English ethnic slurs
- English informal terms
- English terms with quotations
- en:Cichlids
- en:Equids
- en:Swallowtails
- Basque terms with IPA pronunciation
- Basque terms with audio links
- Basque lemmas
- Basque nouns
- Basque animate nouns
- eu:Equids
- Catalan terms inherited from Old Catalan
- Catalan terms derived from Old Catalan
- Catalan terms borrowed from Old Galician-Portuguese
- Catalan terms derived from Old Galician-Portuguese
- Catalan 2-syllable words
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan terms with audio links
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan nouns
- Catalan countable nouns
- Catalan feminine nouns
- ca:Equids
- Cebuano terms borrowed from English
- Cebuano terms derived from English
- Cebuano terms derived from Italian
- Cebuano terms derived from Portuguese
- Cebuano terms derived from Old Galician-Portuguese
- Cebuano terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- Cebuano terms derived from Latin
- Cebuano lemmas
- Cebuano nouns
- Cebuano informal terms
- ceb:Equids
- Corsican terms borrowed from Portuguese
- Corsican terms derived from Portuguese
- Corsican terms derived from Old Galician-Portuguese
- Corsican terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- Corsican terms derived from Latin
- Corsican terms with IPA pronunciation
- Corsican lemmas
- Corsican nouns
- Corsican feminine nouns
- Czech terms with IPA pronunciation
- Czech lemmas
- Czech nouns
- Czech feminine nouns
- Czech hard feminine nouns
- Czech nouns with reducible stem
- cs:Equids
- Danish lemmas
- Danish nouns
- Danish terms spelled with Z
- Danish common-gender nouns
- da:Equids
- Dutch terms borrowed from Portuguese
- Dutch terms derived from Portuguese
- Dutch terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- Dutch terms derived from Latin
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -s
- Dutch masculine nouns
- Esperanto terms suffixed with -a
- Esperanto lemmas
- Esperanto adjectives
- eo:Equids
- Hungarian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Hungarian/rɒ
- Rhymes:Hungarian/rɒ/2 syllables
- Hungarian lemmas
- Hungarian nouns
- hu:Biology
- hu:Road transport
- hu:Equids
- Indonesian lemmas
- Indonesian nouns
- Requests for plural forms in Indonesian entries
- Italian 2-syllable words
- Italian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Italian/ɛbra
- Rhymes:Italian/ɛbra/2 syllables
- Italian lemmas
- Italian nouns
- Italian countable nouns
- Italian feminine nouns
- Italian informal terms
- it:Equids
- Kashubian terms derived from Italian
- Kashubian terms derived from Portuguese
- Kashubian terms derived from Old Galician-Portuguese
- Kashubian terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- Kashubian terms derived from Latin
- Kashubian terms borrowed from Polish
- Kashubian terms derived from Polish
- Kashubian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Kashubian lemmas
- Kashubian nouns
- Kashubian feminine nouns
- csb:Equids
- Ladin lemmas
- Ladin nouns
- Ladin feminine nouns
- Latin 2-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin terms with Ecclesiastical IPA pronunciation
- Latin lemmas
- Latin nouns
- Latin first declension nouns
- Latin feminine nouns in the first declension
- Latin feminine nouns
- New Latin
- la:Equids
- Latvian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latvian terms with audio links
- Latvian lemmas
- Latvian nouns
- Latvian feminine nouns
- Latvian fourth declension nouns
- lv:Equids
- lv:Mammals
- Polish 2-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Polish terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Polish/ɛbra
- Rhymes:Polish/ɛbra/2 syllables
- Polish lemmas
- Polish nouns
- Polish feminine nouns
- Polish colloquialisms
- pl:Equids
- pl:Roads
- Portuguese terms inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese
- Portuguese terms derived from Old Galician-Portuguese
- Portuguese terms inherited from Vulgar Latin
- Portuguese terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- Portuguese terms inherited from Latin
- Portuguese terms derived from Latin
- Portuguese 2-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese countable nouns
- Portuguese feminine nouns
- Brazilian Portuguese
- Portuguese slang
- Portuguese terms with usage examples
- Portuguese derogatory terms
- Portuguese informal terms
- Portuguese Portuguese
- Beirão Portuguese
- pt:Motor racing
- Portuguese terms with obsolete senses
- Portuguese non-lemma forms
- Portuguese verb forms
- pt:Equids
- Serbo-Croatian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Serbo-Croatian lemmas
- Serbo-Croatian nouns
- Serbo-Croatian feminine nouns
- sh:Equids
- Slovene 2-syllable words
- Slovene terms with IPA pronunciation
- Slovene lemmas
- Slovene nouns
- Slovene feminine nouns
- Slovene feminine a-stem nouns
- sl:Equids
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish feminine nouns
- Spanish obsolete forms
- Spanish terms spelled with ze or zi
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- sv:Equids
- Turkish terms borrowed from Italian
- Turkish terms derived from Italian
- Turkish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Turkish lemmas
- Turkish nouns
- tr:Equids