zem

See also: żem and Žem.

English

Noun

zem (plural zems)

1. (informal) A zemidjan.
   • 2009, Anthony Ham, West Africa, page 109:

     The name of the hotel will draw a blank with most zems so try asking for 'Les Paillotes'.

   • 2013, Simon Richmond, Stuart Butler, Lonely Planet Africa:

     The omnipresence of zems (zemijohns; motorbike taxis) has translated into the near disappearance of car taxis […]

Anagrams

• MEZ

Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *zemь, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *źemē (“ground”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéǵʰōm. Compare země which comes from Proto-Slavic *zemľa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈzɛm]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

zem f

1. earth
2. country (nation state or a political entity)

Declension

Declension of zem (soft zero-ending feminine)

	singular	plural
nominative	zem	země
genitive	země	zemí
dative	zemi	zemím
accusative	zem	země
vocative	zemi	země
locative	zemi	zemích
instrumental	zemí	zeměmi

Synonyms

• země

Further reading

• “zem”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “zem”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “zem”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Latvian

Etymology

Common Balto-Slavic root; compare to zeme.

Preposition

zem (with genitive)

1. under

Synonyms

• apakš

Related terms

• zeme
• zems, zemisks, zemiskums

Mandarin

Romanization

zem

1. Nonstandard spelling of zěm.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Slovak

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *zemľa, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *źemē (“ground”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéǵʰōm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [zem]

Noun

zem f

1. earth

Declension

Declension of zem
(pattern dlaň)

	singular	plural
nominative	zem	zeme
genitive	zeme	zemí
dative	zemi	zemiam
accusative	zem	zeme
locative	zemi	zemiach
instrumental	zemou	zemami

Derived terms

• bezzemok
• čiernozem
• cudzozemec
• cudzozemský
• nadzem
• podzemie
• pozemok
• územie
• územný
• zemeguľa
• zemný
• zemský

See also

• Zem
• zemina

Further reading

• “zem”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

Sudovian

Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *źémē, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéǵʰōm. Compare Lithuanian žẽmė, Latvian zeme, Old Prussian semmē.

Noun

zem

1. earth, land, soil
   • “Pagan dialects from Narew” line 12, (copied by V. Zinov, 1983):

     ziemie — zem

     ziemie — land