zigzag

See also: Zigzag and zig-zag

English

Alternative forms

• zig-zag

Etymology

Attested from 1712. Borrowed from French zigzag (attested from 1662), possibly from a Germanic source via Walloon ziczac (although German Zickzack is attested only from 1703). Also, possibly from the shape of the letter Z, which appears twice in the word. Sense “drunk” from the zigzag movements of a drunk person.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɪɡ.zæɡ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

zigzag (plural zigzags)

1. A line or path that proceeds by sharp turns in alternating directions.
   • 1865 November (indicated as 1866), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “Advice from a Caterpillar”, in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 70:

     She had just succeeded in curving it down into a graceful zigzag, and was going to dive in among the leaves, which she found to be nothing but the tops of the trees under which she had been wandering, when a sharp hiss made her draw back in a hurry: […] .

   • 1891 February–December, Robert Louis Stevenson, In the South Seas […], New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1896, →OCLC:

     And still, high in front, arose the precipitous barrier of the mountain, greened over where it seemed that scarce a harebell could find root, barred with the zigzags of a human road where it seemed that not a goat could scramble.

2. One of these sharp turns.

Derived terms

• zigzag railway
• zigzag salamander

Translations

line or path

• Afrikaans: sigsag
• Armenian: զիգզագ (hy) (zigzag)
• Belarusian: зігза́г m (zihzáh)
• Catalan: ziga-zaga (ca) f, zig-zag (ca) m
• Cherokee: ᏗᏓᏅᏗᏍᏔᏅᏓ (didanvdistanvda)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 之字形 (zh) (zhīzìxíng), Z字形

• Cornish: kammdro f, ygam-ogam m
• Esperanto: zigzago
• Estonian: siksakjoon
• Finnish: siksakki (fi)
• French: zigzag (fr) m
• Galician: zigzag m
• Georgian: ზიგზაგი (zigzagi), იკანკელი (iḳanḳeli), ტეხილი (ṭexili)
• German: Zickzack (de) m
• Hebrew: זיגזג
• Hindi: टेढ़ा-मेढ़ा m (ṭeḍhā-meḍhā)
• Hungarian: cikcakk (hu)
• Interlingua: zigzag, zígzág
• Irish: fiarlán m
• Italian: zigzag (it) m
• Japanese: ジグザグ (ja) (jiguzagu)
• Kazakh: бұралаң (būralañ)
• Korean: 갈지자 (galjija), 지그재그 (ko) (jigeujaegeu)
• Malay: jalur berliku
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: зигзаг (zigzag)

• Norwegian: sikksakk m
• Persian: زیگزاگ (fa) (zigzâg)
• Polish: zygzak (pl) m
• Portuguese: ziguezague (pt) m
• Russian: зигза́г (ru) m (zigzág)
• Sotho: letswedintsweke
• Spanish: zigzag (es) m
• Swahili: zigizaga
• Swedish: sicksack (sv)
• Turkish: zikzak (tr)
• Ukrainian: зигза́г m (zyhzáh), зиґза́ґ m (zygzág)
• Welsh: igam-ogam (cy) m

turn

• Estonian: siksak (et)
• Finnish: siksakki (fi), terävä käännös

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Woiwurrung: ^{(please verify)} toonda nulm baling ta kojen

Adjective

zigzag (not comparable)

1. Moving in, or having a zigzag.
   • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter II, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 20:

     The entrance to this ancient place of devotion was under a very low round arch, ornamented by several courses of that zig-zag moulding, resembling shark's teeth, which appears so often in the more ancient Saxon churches.

   • 1854 September – 1855 January, [Elizabeth Gaskell], chapter 6, in North and South. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1855, →OCLC, pages 78–79:

     His thoughts were fixed on one subject, and it was an effort to him to follow the zigzag remarks of his children—an effort which he did not make.

   • 1866 December 10, Charles Dickens, “No. 1 Branch Line. The Signal-Man.”, in Charles Dickens, editor, Mugby Junction. The Extra Christmas Number of All the Year Round, volume XVI, London: Published at No. 26, Wellington Street; and by Messrs. Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 21, column 1:

     There, by dint of looking closely about me, I found a rough zig-zag descending path notched out: which I followed.

   • 1872 September – 1873 July, Thomas Hardy, A Pair of Blue Eyes. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Tinsley Brothers, […], published 1873, →OCLC:

     Right and left ranked the toothed and zigzag line of storm-torn heights, forming the series which culminated in the one beneath their feet.

   • 1880, Mark Twain [pseudonym] (Samuel L[anghorne] Clemens), A Tramp Abroad; […], Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company; London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     We followed the mule-road, a zigzag course, now to the right, now to the left, but always up, and always crowded and incommoded by going and coming files of reckless tourists who were never, in a single instance, tied together.

   • 1912 January, Zane Grey, “Surprise Valley”, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, page 102:

     Then he addressed a keen-sighted, remembering gaze to the rim-wall above. It was serrated, and between two spears of rock, directly in line with his position, showed a zigzag crack that at night would let through the gleam of sky.

2. (US military slang, World War I) Drunk.

Translations

moving in or having a zigzag

• Esperanto: zigzaga
• Estonian: siksakiline (et)
• Finnish: mutkitteleva (fi)
• Georgian: დაკლაკნილი (daḳlaḳnili), ზიგზაგისებრი (zigzagisebri), ზიგზაგური (zigzaguri), კლაკნილი (ḳlaḳnili), იკანკლური (iḳanḳluri)
• Māori: kōpekapeka
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: кыри-гури (kyri-guri)

• Portuguese: ziguezagueante
• Scottish Gaelic: lùbach
• Spanish: en zigzag
• Welsh: igam-ogam (cy)
• Yoruba: kọ́lọkọ̀lọ

Verb

zigzag (third-person singular simple present zigzags, present participle zigzagging, simple past and past participle zigzagged)

1. To move or to twist in a zigzag manner.

   Synonym: zig and zag

   • 1878 January–December, Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], published 1878, →OCLC:

     […] she saw them as we see the throngs which cover the canvases of Sallaert, Van Alsloot, and others of that school—vast masses of beings, jostling, zigzagging, and processioning in definite directions, but whose features are indistinguishable by the very comprehensiveness of the view.

   • 1912 January, Zane Grey, “Surprise Valley”, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, page 98:

     At the base this vent was dark, cool, and smelled of dry, musty dust. It zigzagged so that he could not see ahead more than a few yards at a time.

   • 2002, Malcolm Yorke, Mervyn Peake: My Eyes Mint Gold: A Life, page 298:

     If the first two novels created a new genre — Peakean fantasy — then this third volume zigzags between several: the Bildungsroman, science fiction, social satire, morality tale and dystopian prophecy.

Synonyms

• weave

Translations

move in a zigzag manner

• Catalan: zigzaguejar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 曲折前進 / 曲折前进 (qūzhé qiánjìn), 蜿蜒 (zh) (wānyán), 彎彎曲曲 / 弯弯曲曲 (zh) (wānwānqūqū)

• Cornish: kammdreylya
• Czech: kličkovat impf
• Esperanto: zigzagi
• Estonian: siksakitama (et)
• Finnish: pujotella (fi), säntäillä (fi), mutkitella (fi)
• French: zigzaguer (fr)
• Hungarian: cikázik (hu), cikcakkban halad
• Ido: zigzagar (io)
• Interlingua: zigzagar
• Italian: zigzagare (it)
• Japanese: ジグザグに進む (jiguzagu ni susumu)
• Māori: whakatahataha
• Portuguese: ziguezaguear (pt)
• Russian: идти́ зигза́гом (idtí zigzágom), де́лать зигза́ги (délatʹ zigzági)
• Serbo-Croatian: ševuljica
• Spanish: zigzaguear (es)
• Welsh: igamogamu
• ǃXóõ: ǂūbe

See also

• zig when one should zag

Adverb

zigzag (comparative more zigzag, superlative most zigzag)

1. In a zigzag manner or pattern.

Translations

in a zigzag manner or pattern

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 之字形 (zh) (zhīzìxíng)

• Esperanto: zigzage
• Estonian: siksakiliselt
• Finnish: siksak
• Georgian: ზიგზაგურად (zigzagurad), დაკლაკნილად (daḳlaḳnilad), იკანკლურად (iḳanḳlurad), კლაკნილად (ḳlaḳnilad)
• German: zickzack
• Hungarian: cikcakkban, zegzugosan, zegzugos vonalban
• Japanese: ジグザグ (ja) (jiguzagu), 雁木 (ja) (がんぎ, gangi)
• Korean: 갈지자로 (galjijaro), 지그재그로 (jigeujaegeuro), 비틀배틀 (biteulbaeteul), 실룩샐룩 (silluksaelluk), 휙획 (hwikhoek)
• Portuguese: ziguezagueando, em ziguezague
• Russian: зигза́г (ru) m (zigzág)
• Spanish: en zigzag
• Ukrainian: зигза́гом (zyhzáhom), зиґза́ґом (zygzágom), зигза́гами (zyhzáhamy), зиґза́ґами (zygzágamy)
• Welsh: igam-ogam (cy), o un ochr i'r llall

Further reading

• “zigzag adj.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French zigzag.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɪx.zɑx/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: zig‧zag

Noun

zigzag m (plural zigzags, diminutive zigzagje n)

1. zigzag (line in a sawtooth pattern)

Derived terms

• zigzaggen

French

Alternative forms

• zig-zag
• ziczac (obsolete)

Etymology

From a Germanic source. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ziɡ.zaɡ/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

zigzag m (plural zigzags)

1. zigzag

Further reading

• “zigzag”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈziɡzaɡ/ [ˈzik̚.zak̚]
• Rhymes: -iɡzaɡ
• Syllabification: zig‧zag

Noun

zigzag

1. alternative form of zig-zag

Adjective

zigzag (comparative lebih zigzag, superlative paling zigzag)

1. alternative form of zig-zag

Verb

zigzag

1. alternative form of zig-zag

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French zigzag.

Noun

zigzag n (plural zigzaguri)

1. zigzag

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	zigzag	zigzagul		zigzaguri	zigzagurile
genitive-dative	zigzag	zigzagului		zigzaguri	zigzagurilor
vocative	zigzagule			zigzagurilor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French zigzag.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θiɡˈθaɡ/ [θiɣ̞ˈθaɣ̞], /tsiɡˈθaɡ/ [t̪siɣ̞ˈθaɣ̞] (Spain, Equatorial Guinea)
• IPA^(key): /siɡˈsaɡ/ [siɣ̞ˈsaɣ̞], /tsiɡˈsaɡ/ [t̪siɣ̞ˈsaɣ̞] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -aɡ
• Syllabification: zig‧zag

Noun

zigzag m (plural zigzags or zigzagues)

1. zigzag

Derived terms

• zigzagueante
• zigzaguear
• zigzagueo m

Further reading

• “zigzag”, 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