zigzag

• zig-zag

Attested from 1712. Borrowed from French zigzag (attested from 1662),^[1] 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.

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɪɡ.zæɡ/

• Audio (US):

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zigzag (plural zigzags)

1. A line or path that proceeds by sharp turns in alternating directions.
2. One of these sharp turns.

• zigzag railway
• zigzag salamander

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.

   • 1855, Elizabeth Gaskell, chapter 6, in North and South‎, volume 2, London: Chapman & Hall, 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.

   • 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.^[2]

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

   • 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.

• zig when one should zag

zigzag (comparative more zigzag, superlative most zigzag)

1. in a zigzag manner or pattern

Borrowed from French zigzag.

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɪx.zɑx/

• Audio:

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• Hyphenation: zig‧zag

zigzag m (plural zigzags, diminutive zigzagje n)

1. zigzag (line in a sawtooth pattern)

• zigzaggen

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

• IPA^(key): /ziɡ.zaɡ/

• Audio:

  (file)

zigzag m (plural zigzags)

1. zigzag

• “zigzag”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

zigzag (plural zigzag-zigzag)

1. zigzag

• zigzag

Borrowed from French zigzag.

zigzag n (plural zigzaguri)

1. zigzag

Borrowed from French zigzag.

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /θiɡˈθaɡ/
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /siɡˈsaɡ/
• Rhymes: -aɡ
• Syllabification: zig‧zag

zigzag m (plural zigzags or zigzagues)

1. zigzag

• “zigzag”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

• “zigzag”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10