zebra

1600; borrowed from Italian zebra, from Portuguese zebra, zebro (“zebra”), from Old Galician-Portuguese enzebro, ezebra, azebra (“wild ass”), from earlier cebrario (882), ezebrario (897), from Vulgar Latin *eciferus, from Latin equiferus (“wild horse”) (Pliny), from equus (“horse”) + ferus (“wild”).(Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

While the word was traditionally pronounced with a long vowel in the first syllable in standard English, during the twentieth century a vowel shift occurred in regions of England, with the shortening of the first vowel.^[1] This pronunciation is now used throughout the UK and most Commonwealth nations. The long-vowel pronunciation remains standard in Canadian and American English and is used in the UK only by some older, conservative RP speakers.

(unlikely diagnosis): Originates in the advice often given to medical students, "when you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras".

(referee): In reference to the black and white striped shirts they wear.

• (Commonwealth, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈzɛbɹə/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

  • Hyphenation: zeb‧ra
  • Rhymes: -ɛbɹə
• (Canada, US, and traditionally UK) IPA^(key): /ˈziːbɹə/, (Indic) /ˈziːbɾaː/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: ze‧bra

zebra (plural zebra or zebras)

2. Any of three species of subgenus Hippotigris: E. grevyi, E. quagga, or E. zebra, all with black and white stripes and native to Africa.
3. (sports, slang) A referee.
4. (medicine, slang) An unlikely diagnosis, especially for symptoms probably caused by a common ailment.
   • 2005 March 7, “Apologies and Rememberances”, in Good Witch, season 1, episode 2 (TV), spoken by Dr. Sam Radford and Cassie Nightingale (James Denton and Catherine Bell), via Hallmark:

     "It's a zebra! George. OK, I should explain. A zebra is..."
     "Medical slang for coming to an exotic diagnosis when a more simple explanation is more likely."
     "That's right. I was convinced that George, given his age and symptoms, had some kind of cardiac issue. It fit, it made sense. Because I was looking for the obvious when I should have been looking for the zebra! George is just having an allergic reaction to a combination of chemicals from all the stains and paints he's been using in the garage."

5. (medicine, by extension) Someone who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or hypermobility spectrum disorder
   • 2020, Pharmaceutical Technology‎^[2]:

     EDS charities around the world use a zebra logo to promote the idea that sometimes it really is that ‘rare’ condition.

   • 2022 December 24, CNN‎^[3]:

     “I was told in medical school, ‘when you hear hoofbeats think horses, not zebras,’” she says. Many trainee doctors receive the same advice – when a patient presents with symptoms, “look for the common thing.” That’s why EDS patients commonly refer to themselves as zebras – and also use the fabulous collective noun “dazzle.” The name represents rarity and evokes the stripy stretch marks that are a common feature on EDS skin.

6. (vulgar, derogatory, slang, ethnic slur) A biracial person, specifically one born to a Sub-Saharan African person and a white person.
   • 2021 April 10, Alex Clark, “‘I’m 51, I can say what I want’: Leone Ross has overcome her fears”, in The Guardian:

     “People change countries for all kinds of reasons,” Ross tells me. “But at least one of them was that she had this light-skinned, mixed-race child who had already been called a zebra at school.”

7. (informal) A zebra cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata).
8. Any of various papilionid butterflies of the subgenus Paranticopsis of the genus Graphium, having black and white markings.
9. A zebra crossing.
   • 2010, Mick Herron, Slow Horses, page 247:

     On his way home he'd picked up two economy-sized bags of tortilla chips, and had dropped both when a twat in a Lexus honked him on a zebra . . .

• (biracial person): The term zebra, as used in its pejorative sense, was popularized on the television situation comedy The Jeffersons. The term was used by the series protagonist, George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley), to express disdain for his daughter-in-law, Jenny Willis Jefferson, whose father was white and mother was black.

• (animal of genus Equus): Burchell's zebra, Grevy's zebra, quagga, plains zebra, mountain zebra
• (unlikely diagnosis): fascinoma

• quagga
• Equus burchelli, Equus grevyi, Equus quagga, Equus zebra

• Zaber, braze

Borrowed from Spanish cebra.

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ebra, -a
• Hyphenation: ze‧bra

zebra anim

1. zebra

• “zebra”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “zebra”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Inherited from Old Catalan atzebra, from Old Galician-Portuguese *ezevra, *ezevro.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈze.βɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈze.bɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈze.bɾa]

• Audio:

  (file)

zebra f (plural zebres)

1. zebra

• peix zebra
• zebrat

• “zebra”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Borrowed from English zebra, from Italian zebra, from Portuguese zebra, zebro (“zebra”), from Old Galician-Portuguese enzebro, ezebra, azebra (“wild ass”), from earlier cebrario (882), ezebrario (897), from Vulgar Latin *eciferus, from Latin equiferus (“wild horse”) (Pliny), from equus (“horse”) + ferus (“wild”).

zebra

1. a zebra; any of three species of genus Equus: E. grevyi, E. quagga, or E. zebra, all with black and white stripes and native to Africa
2. a pattern or motif similar to the stripes of a zebra
3. (informal) an animal with zebra-like stripes

From Portuguese zebra (“wild horse”), from zebro, from Old Galician-Portuguese zevro, from *ezevro, from Vulgar Latin *eciferus, from Latin *equiferus, from equus (“horse”) + ferus (“wild”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɛbra/

zebra f (plural zebre)

1. alternative form of zebru

• https://infcor.adecec.net/

Probably from Russian зебра (zebra), from Italian zebra

zebra

1. zebra

   Synonym: qaşqalı at

• “zebra”, in Luğatçıq (in Russian)

• IPA^(key): [ˈzɛbra]

zebra f

1. zebra

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

zebra c (singular definite zebraen, plural indefinite zebraer)

1. zebra

• zebrafinke c (“zebra finch”)

Borrowed from Portuguese zebra, from Old Galician-Portuguese enzebro, ezebra, azebra (“wild ass”), from earlier cebrario (882), ezebrario (897), from Vulgar Latin *eciferus, from Latin equiferus (“wild horse”). The second sense is a shortening of zebrapad.

• IPA^(key): /ˈzeː.braː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ze‧bra

zebra m (plural zebra's, diminutive zebraatje n)

1. a zebra, a black-and-white striped equid of the genus Equus: Equus zebra, Equus quagga or Equus grevyi [from late 16th c.]

   Hyponyms: bergzebra, Grévyzebra, steppezebra

2. a zebra crossing, a pedestrian crossing [from mid 1950s.]

   Synonym: zebrapad

   Hypernym: oversteekplaats

From zebro (“zebra”) +‎ -a.

• IPA^(key): /ˈzebra/
• Rhymes: -ebra
• Hyphenation: ze‧bra

zebra (accusative singular zebran, plural zebraj, accusative plural zebrajn)

1. zebrine, hippotigrine

• ekveda (“equid”)

• IPA^(key): [ˈzɛbrɒ]
• Hyphenation: zeb‧ra
• Rhymes: -rɒ

zebra (plural zebrák)

1. (biology) zebra (animal)
2. (road transport) pedestrian crossing, crosswalk, zebra crossing

   Synonyms: gyalogátkelőhely, gyalogos-átkelőhely, gyalogátkelő

(Compound words):

• zebrapinty

• zebra in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Borrowed from Dutch zebra.

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈzebra/ [ˈze.bra]
• Rhymes: -ebra
• Syllabification: ze‧bra

zébra (plural zebra-zebra)

1. zebra (any of three species of subgenus Hippotigris)
2. (colloquial) zebra crossing (pedestrian crossing featuring broad white stripes)

   Synonym: jalan zebra

• IPA^(key): ^*/ˈd͡zɛ.bra/
• Rhymes: -ɛbra
• Hyphenation: zè‧bra

zebra f (plural zebre)

1. zebra
2. (in the plural, informal) zebra crossing/crosswalk

Borrowed from Polish zebra.

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɛ.bra/
• Rhymes: -ɛbra
• Syllabification: ze‧bra

zebra f

1. zebra (striped mammal of the genus Equus)

• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “zebra”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[4]

zebra f (plural zebres)

1. zebra

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈzɛ.bra]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈd̪͡z̪ɛː.bra]

zebra f (genitive zebrae); first declension

1. (New Latin) zebra (Equus zebra)

First-declension noun.

Possibly ultimately from a Congolese name for the animal, via Portuguese, via some other European language. Possibly also ultimately from Latin equiferus (“wild horse”), via Portuguese and/or Italian.

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɛbra/

• Audio:

  (file)

zebra f (4th declension)

1. zebra (esp. Equus zebra)

Borrowed from French zèbre.

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɛ.bra/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛbra
• Syllabification: ze‧bra

zebra f

2. zebra (any equid of the subgenus Hippotigris)
4. (colloquial) crosswalk, pedestrian crossing, zebra crossing (pedestrian crossing featuring broad white stripes)

   Synonyms: pasy, przejście dla pieszych

5. black and white striped pattern

• → Kashubian: zebra

• zebra in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• zebra in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• zebry in PWN's encyclopedia

From zebro, from Old Galician-Portuguese zevro (“European wild ass”), from Vulgar Latin *eciferus, from Latin equiferus (“wild horse”), from equus (“horse”) + ferus (“wild”). Compare Spanish cebra.

Senses 2 and 3 of the word comes from the popular Brazilian betting game jogo do bicho, in which the animal is absent, therefore it is unlikely that a zebra will be drawn.

• Hyphenation: ze‧bra

zebra f (plural zebras)

1. zebra
   • 1844, Alexandre Herculano, chapter XVI, in Eurico, o Presbítero:

     Para aqueles, todavia, que não estivessem afeitos a perseguir a zebra pelas encostas escarpadas, a galgar os precipícios após a cabra mon­tês e a combater com os ursos e javalis nas bordas dos fojos, sem se lhes turbar a vista; para esses tais a ponte vegetal dos astúrios seria um sítio arriscado.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (Brazil, slang) A victorious competitor initially thought unlikely to win, especially in sports; an underdog

   Synonym: azarão

   Aquele time ganhou quando todo mundo pensou que ele iria perder, mas que zebra!

   That [soccer] team won when everyone else thought they were going to lose, what an underdog!

3. (Brazil, slang) an unexpected result in a competition
4. (Brazil, derogatory) idiot, stupid person

   Synonym: burro

   • 1872, Machado de Assis, chapter III, in Canseiras em vão:

     — Ah! já sei, disse ele; receou ofender a suscetibilidade da formosa senhora. É um homem polido… e tolo, creio eu. Tanto melhor, não me dou com espertos e malcriados. Carta a Z. Z. Z. Que querem dizer estas letras? Serão também simbólicas? Três vezes zebra, talvez quisesse dizer de si mesmo o anunciante. Pois, senhor, é comigo.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1879, Artur de Azevedo, “Ato Primeiro”, in A Joia, Cena VII:

     Não sou zebra, que, se quer balas alguém, compra-as a três por vintém.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

5. (Brazil, informal) prison uniform
6. (Portugal, informal) zebra crossing
7. (Portugal, informal) vice, a bad habit
8. (Beira) a type of lanky spinning top
9. (motor racing) curb (line of flat curbstones on the corners of racing tracks)
10. zebra pattern
    • 1994, chapter I, in Decreto-Lei de Portugal 114 de 1994 (Código da estrada português), Artigo 6º - Sinais:

      Passagem para peões, constituída por bandas em zebra, paralelas ao eixo da via, ou por duas linhas transversais contínuas (M11 e M11ª): indica o local por onde os peões devem efectuar o atravessamento da via.

      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

11. (obsolete) cow

The gender of this Portuguese zoonym is always feminine: when the gender of the being itself must be specified, use “zebra-macho” for male, and “zebra-fêmea” for female. Here, macho is treated as an undeclinable noun and doesn't necessarily need to agree in gender with the referent, but would change to macha if so.

• → German: Zebra
  • → Hunsrik: Zebra
• → Italian: zebra
  • → English: zebra
  • → Turkish: zebra
• → New Latin: zebra

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• Hyphenation: ze‧bra

zebra

1. inflection of zebrar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

• “zebra”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “zebra” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “zebra”, in Dicio – Dicionário Online de Português (in Portuguese), São Paulo: 7Graus, 2009–2025
• “zebra”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “zebra”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “zebra”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

• IPA^(key): /zêbra/

zȅbra f (Cyrillic spelling зе̏бра)

1. zebra

• IPA^(key): /zèːbra/, /zéːbra/

zẹ̄bra f

1. zebra

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Feminine, a-stem
nom. sing.	zébra
gen. sing.	zébre
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	zébra	zébri	zébre
genitive (rodȋlnik)	zébre	zéber	zéber
dative (dajȃlnik)	zébri	zébrama	zébram
accusative (tožȋlnik)	zébro	zébri	zébre
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	zébri	zébrah	zébrah
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	zébro	zébrama	zébrami

• “zebra”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025

• IPA^(key): /ˈtsebɾa/ [ˈt̪se.β̞ɾa]
• Rhymes: -ebɾa

zebra f (plural zebras)

1. obsolete spelling of cebra

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

• sebra

zebra c

1. zebra

   Zebror är randiga / har ränder

   Zebras are striped / have stripes

   – Vilket djur på savannen har bäst syn? – Zebra!

   – Which animal on the savannah has the best eyesight? – Zebra! ["se-bra" (see-well) – widespread schoolyard joke, though the pronunciation doesn't match perfectly]

• zebra in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• zebra in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• zebra in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Borrowed from Italian zebra.

• IPA^(key): [ˈzeb.ɾɑ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: zeb‧ra

zebra (definite accusative zebrayı, plural zebralar)

1. zebra