zot

English

Etymology 1

A sound effect. Popularized by the Usenet Oracle, a humorous Internet advice service, where the word was used as an irritated dismissal of a question.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Verb

zot (third-person singular simple present zott, present participle ing, simple past and past participle zotted)

1. (slang) To zap, kill, or destroy.
   • 1980, Kit Reed, Magic time:

     I reached for the handle and it zotted me — an electric shock to the elbow.

   • 1997, "Matt Lepinski", Zotting (on Internet newsgroup rec.humor.oracle.d)

     I've heard rumors about the oracle zotting people and I have these questions about zot?

   • 1997, "Terry Moore", COPS PUT LIVES ON LINE? (on Internet newsgroup austin.general)

     When a taxi driver, convenience store clerk, pizza deliverer, etc., gets zotted, it is on the back page of the local newspaper and not in out of town newspapers at all.

   • 1998, "RosieDawg", watergardening and dogs and Rosie's new toy, OT-ish (on Internet newsgroup rec.ponds)

     electric fence - zotting me was fine (well really!) but they were worried about zotting the several dozen human puppies that hang around at our house.

Etymology 2

Sound effect in the comic strip B.C., first published in 1958, associated with both (1) the rapid tongue of an anteater character and (2) lightning bolts.

Noun

zot (plural zots)

1. (US, slang) An anteater.

Interjection

zot

1. (US) The characteristic sound made by an anteater's tongue or by lightning.

Usage notes

• Associated with the UC Irvine Anteaters.

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Albanian

Alternative forms

• (Archaic) (religion) Zojzi
• (Gheg) ɛot [zot]
• (Tosk) zotë [zotə]

Etymology

• From older zota, from Proto-Albanian *dzwāpt, from *w(i)tspáti, from Proto-Indo-European *wiḱpótis (“clan leader”) (compare Lithuanian viēšpats, Avestan 𐬬𐬍𐬯𐬞𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (vīspaⁱti)), compound of *weyḱ- (“clan, extended family”) (compare Ancient Greek οἰκία (oikía, “house (clan)”), Avestan 𐬬𐬌𐬚 (viθ, “royal court”)) and *pótis (“master”) (compare Ancient Greek πόσις (pósis, “husband”), Tocharian A pats (“husband”)).
• An old compound for "Sky father", from Proto-Albanian *dźie̅u ̊ + Proto-Albanian *a(t)t-, from *dyew- (“sky”) +‎ *átta (“father”), compare Sanskrit द्यौष्पितृ (dyáuṣ-pitṛ́), Proto-Italic *djous patēr (whence Latin Iuppiter), Ancient Greek Ζεῦ πάτερ (Zeû páter). The radical zot contains the zero-grade radical of the Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zɔt/

Noun

zot m (plural zotër, definite zoti, definite plural zotërit)

1. master, headman
2. boss, head
3. (religion) Lord, God
4. sir, mister

Derived terms

• zotëri (Tosk),
• zotëni, zotni (Gheg),
• zotësi, zotërisht, zotoj,
• zotëroj (Tosk),
• zotënoj, zotnoj (Gheg),
• plural:
  • Tosk: zota, zotëra (def. zotërat)
  • Gheg: zotën, zotëna

Related terms

• Tosk: zonjë
• Gheg: zôjë

Noun

zot m (plural zotët, definite zoti)

1. landowner, owner of a wealthy estate
2. lord, head of a wealthy family with servants

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Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch sot, a borrowing from Old French sot, from Medieval Latin sottus, of unknown origin. Compare Old English sott (“foolish, stupid”), English sot.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zɔt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: zot
• Rhymes: -ɔt

Adjective

zot (comparative zotter, superlative zotst)

1. crazy
2. mad

Usage notes

Mainly Brabantian, dialectal in Hollandic.

Inflection

Declension of zot
uninflected	zot
inflected	zotte
comparative	zotter
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		zot	zotter	het zotst het zotste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	zotte	zottere	zotste
	n. sing.	zot	zotter	zotste
	plural	zotte	zottere	zotste
definite		zotte	zottere	zotste
partitive		zots	zotters	—

Synonyms

• gek
• getikt
• gestoord

Descendants

• Afrikaans: sot

Noun

zot m (plural zotten, diminutive zotje n)

1. A fool.

Usage notes

Same as above.

Descendants

• Afrikaans: sot

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Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From French les autres (“the other guys”).

In French, the plural word autres is commonly preceded by a word, such as aux, les or mes, whose final s or x is not pronounced except in front of vowels, where it is pronounced /z/. As a result, autres was reanalyzed as having /z/ at the beginning.

Pronoun

zot

1. you, y'all (second-person plural personal pronoun)
2. they, them (third-person plural personal pronoun)

Usage notes

When usage might be ambiguous, zot is reserved for second-person plural and bann-la is used instead for third-person plural.

See also

Mauritian Creole personal pronouns

			singular	plural
1st person			mo mwa (objective)	nou
2nd person			to (informal), ou (formal) twa (objective)	zot
3rd person			li	zot, bann-la