Z

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See also: z , ʒ , Ζ , ℤ , 乙 , ㆸ , and Appendix:Variations of "z"

Z U+005A, Z
LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Z
← Y
 		Basic Latin [ →
Ｚ U+FF3A, Ｚ
FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Z
← Ｙ
 		Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms ［ →

Translingual

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

From the Etruscan letter 𐌆 (z, “ze”), from the Ancient Greek letter Ζ (Z, “zeta”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤆‎ (z, “zayin”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓏭.

Letter

Z (lower case z)

  1. The twenty-sixth and final letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

See also

Symbol

Z

  1. (metrology) zetta-
  2. (physics) the impedance of an electrical circuit
  3. (physics, computer graphics) the depth dimension in a 3D environment
  4. (physics) atomic number
  5. (biochemistry) IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation for either glutamine or glutamic acid

Derived terms

Base SI units derived from the prefix meaning zetta-
Derived SI units derived from the prefix meaning zetta-

Gallery

  • Letter styles
  • Uppercase and lowercase versions of Z, in normal and italic type

    Uppercase and lowercase versions of Z, in normal and italic type

  • Uppercase and lowercase Z in Fraktur

    Uppercase and lowercase Z in Fraktur

See also

Other representations of Z:

English

Pronunciation

Name of letter

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z, plural Zs or Z's)

  1. The twenty-sixth letter of the English alphabet, called zed or zee and written in the Latin script.

Derived terms

See also

Noun

Z (plural Z's or Zs)

  1. A member of Generation Z.
    Synonyms: Generation Z, Generation Zer, Gen Z, Gen-Zer, Zer, zoomer
    Alternative form: Zed
    • 2017, Martha M. Ellis, Linda Garcia, Generation X Presidents Leading Community Colleges: New Challenges, New Leaders, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 10:
      Take that a step further for Millennials and Zs by crafting an e-mail subject header that does the same but with even fewer characters; […]
    • 2020, Zerlina Maxwell, The End of White Politics: How to Heal Our Liberal Divide, New York, N.Y.: Hachette Books, →ISBN:
      The current progressive movement—and certainly the Millennials and Zs—understand that the Hyde Amendment is discriminatory […]
    • 2022, Morgen Witzel, editor, Post-Pandemic Leadership: Exploring Solutions to a Crisis, Routledge, →ISBN:
      The current global pandemic is almost certainly a formative moment for younger Millennials and Zs as they navigate through similar challenges.
  2. (slang) Z-drug.
    • 2013, Snap Capone (lyrics and music), “Lights Out”, in The Memoir‎, from 0:16:
      I can sell bricks, I don't need to rap
      Buj so peng it makes the fiends collapse
      Cook that coca into crack
      I was selling Zs while you was in your bed

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA(key): /zɛt/

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The twenty-sixth letter of the Afrikaans alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Noun

Z (plural Z's, diminutive Z'tjie)

  1. Z

Albanian

Pronunciation

Letter

Z (lower case z)

  1. The thirty-fifth letter of the Albanian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Azerbaijani

Letter

Z upper case (lower case z)

  1. The thirty-second letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Basque

Pronunciation

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The twenty-seventh letter of the Basque alphabet, called zeta and written in the Latin script.

See also

Central Franconian

Etymology

  • /ts/ is from West Germanic stem-initial, geminated or post-sonorant *t.
  • For the origin of /z/, see S.

Pronunciation

  • (German-based) /ts/
  • (Dutch-based) /z/

Letter

Z

  1. A letter in the German-based alphabet of Central Franconian.
  2. A letter in the Dutch-based alphabet of Central Franconian.

Usage notes

  • /ts/ may also be represented by ts, tts, ds, dds, mostly when there is an intervening morpheme boundary.
  • In the Dutch-based spelling, /ts/ is always represented by ts (or ds). In the German-based spelling, /z/ is represented by s (see there).
Doubling of Z and use in the syllable coda
  • In the German-based spelling, doubling of z yields tz, which is used after short vowels. (As z is already a voiceless sound there is no change in coda position.)
  • In the Dutch-based spelling, z is doubled after short vowels if the syllable were otherwise open. Coda z is automatically replaced with s.

Chinese

Wikipedia has an article on:

Etymology 1

Derived from 直 (zhí, “straight”).

Pronunciation

Symbol

Z

  1. (Mainland China) A shorthand used to refer to direct express trains.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation 1

Note: Often realised as 1ze.
Letter

Z

  1. The twenty-sixth and last letter of the Latin alphabet.

Pronunciation 2

Letter

Z

  1. The twenty-sixth and last letter used in Pinyin.
Usage notes
  • 《汉语拼音方案》 defines a standard pronunciation for each letter. However, these pronunciations are rarely used in education; another pronunciation is commonly used instead.
  • The pronunciation above are only used while referring to letters in Pinyin. They are not used in other context (such as English).

Dutch

Pronunciation

Letter

Z (capital, lowercase z)

  1. The twenty-sixth and last letter of the Dutch alphabet.

Adverb

Z

  1. Abbreviation of zuid; south

See also

  • Previous letter: Y

Esperanto

Pronunciation

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The twenty-eighth letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called zo and written in the Latin script.

See also

Estonian

Estonian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia et

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The twenty-first letter of the Estonian alphabet, called tsett and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

  • Used only in loanwords.

See also

Finnish

Etymology

The Finnish orthography using the Latin script was based on Swedish, German and Latin. No earlier script is known. See the Wikipedia article on Finnish for more information, and Z for development of the glyph itself.

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Finnish alphabet, called tseta or tset and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

  • Used only in loanwords. In more established loanwords replaced with ts.

See also

German

Pronunciation

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The twenty-sixth and last letter of the German alphabet.

Usage notes

  • Doubling of z generally yields tz, but zz is retained in loanwords (chiefly from Italian).
  • In German handwriting, the letter Z very often receives an additional stroke in the middle: Ƶ. A lack of this stroke may even make the letter look "incomplete" to a great deal of language users. However, the corresponding grapheme Ƶ is virtually never used in printing.

Hungarian

Pronunciation

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The thirty-ninth letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called zé and written in the Latin script.

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, front unrounded harmony)
singular plural
nominative Z Z-k
accusative Z-t Z-ket
dative Z-nek Z-knek
instrumental Z-vel Z-kkel
causal-final Z-ért Z-kért
translative Z-vé Z-kké
terminative Z-ig Z-kig
essive-formal Z-ként Z-kként
essive-modal — —
inessive Z-ben Z-kben
superessive Z-n Z-ken
adessive Z-nél Z-knél
illative Z-be Z-kbe
sublative Z-re Z-kre
allative Z-hez Z-khez
elative Z-ből Z-kből
delative Z-ről Z-kről
ablative Z-től Z-ktől
non-attributive
possessive - singular 		Z-é Z-ké
non-attributive
possessive - plural 		Z-éi Z-kéi
Possessive forms of Z
possessor single possession multiple possessions
1st person sing. Z-m Z-im
2nd person sing. Z-d Z-id
3rd person sing. Z-je Z-i
1st person plural Z-nk Z-ink
2nd person plural Z-tek Z-itek
3rd person plural Z-jük Z-ik

See also

Ido

Pronunciation

Letter

Z (lower case z)

  1. The twenty-sixth letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Italian

Italian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia it

Pronunciation

  • (letter name) IPA(key): */ˈd͡zɛ.ta/, */ˈd͡ze.ta/
  • (phonemic realization) IPA(key): */t͡s/*, */d͡z/*
    • Z is spelt single stem-initially and after consonants. The pronunciation is not predictable and may be /t͡s/ or /d͡z/, though after -l- and -r- it is mostly /t͡s/. It is also spelt single post-vocalically before , where the pronunciation is mostly /tt͡s/.
    • Between true vowels it is usually doubled as zz. The pronunciation, again, is not predictable and may be /tt͡s/ or /dd͡z/. Chiefly in learned words it may be spelt single, in which case it is predominantly /dd͡z/.

Letter

Z f or m (invariable, upper case, lower case z)

  1. The twenty-first letter of the Italian alphabet, called zeta and written in the Latin script.

Symbol

Z

  1. the letter zeta in the Greek alphabet

See also

References

  1. ^ Z in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Kashubian

Etymology

The Kashubian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Kashubian alphabet article on Wikipedia for more, and Z for development of the glyph itself.

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The thirty-second letter of the Kashubian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Latin

Etymology

The letter descended from the Old Italic letter 𐌆 (z) in the Old Latin period, but had long fell into native disuse by the Classical period, when it came back into use, transcribing the Ancient Greek letter Ζ (Z, “zeta”), which had formerly been transcribed S in initial position and SS in medial position. In writings of the Late Latin period, Z frequently takes the place of S and in the third and fourth centuries often represented word-initial prevocalic di.

Pronunciation

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The twenty-third letter of the Classical Latin alphabet, called zēta.

References

  • “Z, z”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • Z in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 1,700/1
  • “Z, z” on page 2,125/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Latvian

Latvian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia lv

Etymology

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

Pronunciation

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Letter

Z

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The thirty-second letter of the Latvian alphabet, called zē and written in the Latin script.

See also

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

Letter

Z (lower case z)

  1. The thirty-second letter of the Lower Sorbian alphabet, called zet and written in the Latin script.

See also

Malay

Malay Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ms

Pronunciation

  • (Name of letter) IPA(key): , ,
  • (Phoneme, Syllable initial) IPA(key):
  • (Phoneme, Syllable final) IPA(key):

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The twenty-sixth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Norwegian

Letter

Z (upper case Z, lower case z)

  1. the 29th letter of the Norwegian alphabet

Usage notes

Only in loan words and foreign names. Also used in old inscriptions and texts instead of s.

Nupe

Pronunciation

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The twenty-ninth letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Polish

Etymology

The Polish orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the history of Polish orthography article on Wikipedia for more, and Z for development of the glyph itself.

Pronunciation

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The thirtieth letter of the Polish alphabet, called zet and written in the Latin script.

See also

Portuguese

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The twenty-sixth letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Romani

Pronunciation

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. (International Standard) The thirtieth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.
  2. (Pan-Vlax) The thirty-first letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Romanian

Pronunciation

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The thirty-first letter of the Romanian alphabet, called ze, zet, zed, or zî and written in the Latin script.

See also

Russian

The Z symbol used by the Russian military.
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

Derived from запад (zapad, “west”). The Z sign was initially used for vehicles targeted towards southeastern Ukraine, in a manner similar to invasion stripes used by the Allies in World War II. Later popularised by the Russian government on social media as a rallying symbol.

Pronunciation

Symbol

Z (lower case z)

  1. the Roman letter Z, z
    Synonym: зет (zɛt)
  3. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:) (politics) A symbol representing support for the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
    Synonyms: (derogatory) полусва́стика (polusvástika), (derogatory) но́вая сва́стика (nóvaja svástika), (derogatory) зва́стика (zvástika)
    • #ZаМир, #ZаПобеду (hashtags using Z by Russian nationalists in support for war against Ukraine)
      #ZaMir, #ZaPobedu
      "for peace", "for victory"
    • ZOV (a symbol combining V and O, more symbols used on Russian tanks, used by the Russian government and some online users in support for war against Ukraine)
      ZOV (may also be interpreted as зов, or "call forth ")
    • Zалупа, роZZия, zвери, Zло, Zомби (derisive online slang terms mocking Russian nationalists)
      Zalupa, roZZija, zveri, Zlo, Zombi
      "dickhead", "RuZZia", "beaZts", "evil", "Zombie"

Usage notes

Russian nationalists replace instances of the Cyrillic letter З (Z) with Z in some words and usernames, and their opponents also use Latin Z's in Russian words to mock them.

Related terms

  • зе́тник (zétnik, “a vatnik who uses the Z symbol, a supporter of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine”), зэ́тник (zɛ́tnik)
  • зиговать (zigovatʹ, “to use a Nazi salute”), zиговать (zigovatʹ, “to support the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine”)
  • zомби (zombi, “a zombie, a fanatical Russian nationalist who supports the invasion of Ukraine”)
  • РоZZия (RoZZija, “RuZZia, Russia as the aggressor during the invasion of Ukraine”)

Descendants

  • ⇒ English: zwastika (internet slang, usage of Z by Russian nationalists)
  • ⇒ English: Ruzzia (internet slang, Russia being militarised during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine)
  • ⇒ Ukrainian: Z (a symbol used by Ukrainians to mock Russia)

See also

Further reading

Saanich

Letter

Z

  1. The thirty-eighth letter of the Saanich alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Silesian

Etymology

The Silesian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Silesian language article on Wikipedia for more, and Z for development of the glyph itself.

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The thirty-second letter of the Silesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

Letter

Z (lower case z)

  1. The thirty-third letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Slovene

Slovene Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sl

Letter

Z (capital, lowercase z)

  1. The 24th letter of the Slovene alphabet. Preceded by V and followed by Ž.

Spanish

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. the 27th letter of the Spanish alphabet

Tagalog

Etymology

From Spanish Z. Each pronunciation has a different source:

  • Filipino alphabet pronunciation is influenced by English Z.
  • Abecedario pronunciation is from Spanish Z.

Pronunciation

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z, Baybayin spelling ᜐᜒ)

  1. The twenty-eighth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (Filipino alphabet), called zi and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

  • This letter is mostly used only in proper nouns, unadapted loanwords, or Spanish-based spellings.
  • Some purists of Tagalog replace Z in words with S.

See also

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z, Baybayin spelling ᜐᜒᜆ)

  1. (historical) The twenty-eighth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (Abecedario), called zeta and written in the Latin script.

Further reading

Turkish

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The twenty-ninth letter of the Turkish alphabet, called ze and written in the Latin script.

See also

Ukrainian

Etymology

Originated from Russian usage of the letter Z as a military symbol, as well as a symbol of support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine (see Z#Etymology_5).

Pronunciation

Symbol

Z (lower case z)

  1. the Roman letter Z, z
    Synonym: зет (zet)
  2. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:) (politics) a dogwhistle for supporting the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • РоZZія (derisive online slang term mocking Russian nationalists)
      RoZZija
      "RuZZia"

Usage notes

Often used by Ukrainian Internet users and politicians to mock or insult Russians, especially for the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Derived terms

See also

Zulu

Letter

Z (upper case, lower case z)

  1. The twenty-sixth letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia