Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Zebra

Ze′bra

,
Noun.
[Pg.
zebra
; cf. Sp.
cebra
; probably from a native African name.]
(Zool.)
Any member of three species of African wild horses remarkable for having the body white or yellowish white, and conspicuously marked with dark brown or brackish bands.
Zebra caterpillar
,
the larva of an American noctuid moth (
Mamestra picta
). It is light yellow, with a broad black stripe on the back and one on each side; the lateral stripes are crossed with withe lines. It feeds on cabbages, beets, clover, and other cultivated plants.
–
Zebra opossum
,
the zebra wolf. See under
Wolf
.
–
Zebra parrakeet
,
an Australian grass parrakeet, often kept as a cage bird. Its upper parts are mostly pale greenish yellow, transversely barred with brownish black crescents; the under parts, rump, and upper tail coverts, are bright green; two central tail feathers and the cheek patches are blue. Called also
canary parrot
,
scallop parrot
,
shell parrot
, and
undulated parrot
.
–
Zebra poison
(Bot.)
,
a poisonous tree (
Euphorbia arborea
) of the Spurge family, found in South Africa. Its milky juice is so poisonous that zebras have been killed by drinking water in which its branches had been placed, and it is also used as an arrow poison.
J. Smith (Dict. Econ. Plants).
–
Zebra shark
.
Same as
Tiger shark
, under
Tiger
.
–
Zebra spider
,
a hunting spider.
–
Zebra swallowtail
,
a very large North American swallow-tailed butterfly (
Iphiclides ajax
), in which the wings are yellow, barred with black; – called also
ajax
.
–
Zebra wolf
.
See under
Wolf
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Zebra

ZEBRA

,
Noun.
An animal of the genus Equus, beautifully marked with stripes; a native of Africa.

Definition 2024

Zebra

Zebra

See also: zebra, zébra, zebrā, zebră, and żebra

Translingual

Proper noun

Zebra f

  1. (obsolete) A taxonomic genus within the family Equidae – now treated as a synonym of Equus.

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈtseːbʀa/

Noun

Zebra n ‎(genitive Zebras, plural Zebras)

  1. zebra

Derived terms

Luxembourgish

Noun

Zebra m ‎(plural Zebraen)

  1. zebra

zebra

zebra

See also: Zebra, zébra, zebră, zebrā, and żebra

English

A zebra (species of Equus)

Noun

zebra ‎(plural zebras)

  1. 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. (sports, slang) A referee.
  3. (medicine, slang) An unlikely diagnosis, especially for symptoms probably caused by a common ailment. (Originates in the advice often given to medical students: "When you hear hoof beats, think of horses, not zebras.")
  4. (vulgar, pejorative, slang) A bi-racial person, specifically one born to a member of the Sub-Saharan African race and a Caucasian.

Hyponyms

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Anagrams

References

  1. ↑ Wells, John (1997), “Our changing pronunciation”, in Transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society, retrieved 6 February 2014, pages xix.42-48

Basque

Noun

zebra

  1. zebra

Declension

"zebra"
(animate noun) declension
indefinite singular plural
absolutive zebra zebra zebrak
ergative zebrak zebrak zebrek
dative zebrari zebrari zebrei
genitive zebraren zebraren zebren
comitative zebrarekin zebrarekin zebrekin
causative zebrarengatik zebrarengatik zebrengatik
benefactive zebrarentzat zebrarentzat zebrentzat
instrumental zebraz zebraz zebrez
inessive zebrarengan zebrarengan zebrengan
allative zebrarengana zebrarengana zebrengana
terminative zebrarenganaino zebrarenganaino zebrenganaino
directive zebrarenganantz zebrarenganantz zebrenganantz
destinative zebrarenganako zebrarenganako zebrenganako
ablative zebrarengandik zebrarengandik zebrengandik
partitive zebrarik
-
-
prolative zebratzat
-
-

Catalan

Noun

zebra f ‎(plural zebres)

  1. zebra

Czech

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /zɛbra/

Noun

zebra f

  1. zebra

Declension

Declension of zebra
singular plural
nominative zebra zebry
genitive zebry zebr
dative zebře zebrám
accusative zebru zebry
vocative zebro zebry
locative zebře zebrách
instrumental zebrou zebrami

Danish

Noun

zebra c (singular definite zebraen, plural indefinite zebraer)

  1. zebra

Esperanto

Etymology

From zebro ‎(“zebra”) +‎ -a.

Adjective

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

  1. zebrine, hippotigrine

Hypernyms

  • ekveda ‎(“equid”)

Hungarian

Zebra [1].
Zebra [2].

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈzɛbrɒ]
  • Hyphenation: zeb‧ra

Noun

zebra ‎(plural zebrák)

  1. zebra (animal)
  2. pedestrian crossing, crosswalk, zebra crossing

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony)
singular plural
nominative zebra zebrák
accusative zebrát zebrákat
dative zebrának zebráknak
instrumental zebrával zebrákkal
causal-final zebráért zebrákért
translative zebrává zebrákká
terminative zebráig zebrákig
essive-formal zebraként zebrákként
essive-modal — —
inessive zebrában zebrákban
superessive zebrán zebrákon
adessive zebránál zebráknál
illative zebrába zebrákba
sublative zebrára zebrákra
allative zebrához zebrákhoz
elative zebrából zebrákból
delative zebráról zebrákról
ablative zebrától zebráktól
Possessive forms of zebra
possessor single possession multiple possessions
1st person sing. zebrám zebráim
2nd person sing. zebrád zebráid
3rd person sing. zebrája zebrái
1st person plural zebránk zebráink
2nd person plural zebrátok zebráitok
3rd person plural zebrájuk zebráik

Synonyms

Derived terms

(Compound words):

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈdzɛːbra/

Noun

zebra f ‎(plural zebre)

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

Ladin

Noun

zebra f ‎(plural zebres)

  1. zebra

Latin

Pronunciation

  • (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈze.bra/, [ˈzɛ.bra]

Noun

zebra f ‎(genitive zebrae); first declension

  1. zebra (Equus zebra)

Inflection

First declension.

Case Singular Plural
nominative zebra zebrae
genitive zebrae zebrārum
dative zebrae zebrīs
accusative zebram zebrās
ablative zebrā zebrīs
vocative zebra zebrae

Latvian

Zebra

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈzɛbra/

Noun

zebra f (4th declension)

  1. zebra (esp. Equus zebra)

Declension

Declension of zebra (4th declension)
singular (vienskaitlis) plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs) zebra zebras
accusative (akuzatīvs) zebru zebras
genitive (ģenitīvs) zebras zebru
dative (datīvs) zebrai zebrām
instrumental (instrumentālis) zebru zebrām
locative (lokatīvs) zebrā zebrās
vocative (vokatīvs) zebra zebras

Polish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈzɛbra/

Noun

zebra f

  1. zebra (animal)
  2. (colloquial) zebra crossing

Declension

declension of zebra
singular plural
nominative zebra zebry
genitive zebry zebr
dative zebrze zebrom
accusative zebrę zebry
instrumental zebrą zebrami
locative zebrze zebrach
vocative zebro zebry

Synonyms

  • (crossing) przejście dla pieszych, pasy

Portuguese

zebra (Equus quagga antiquorum)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈze.βɾɐ/
  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈze.bɾa/, /ˈze.bɾɐ/
  • Hyphenation: ze‧bra

Noun

zebra f (plural zebras)

  1. zebra

Descendants

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /zêbra/

Noun

zȅbra f ‎(Cyrillic spelling зе̏бра)

  1. zebra

Declension

Declension of zebra
singular plural
nominative zebra zebre
genitive zebre zebra
dative zebri zebrama
accusative zebru zebre
vocative zebro zebre
locative zebri zebrama
instrumental zebrom zebrama

Slovene

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈzèːbra/, /ˈzéːbra/
  • Tonal orthography: zẹ́bra, zẹ̑bra

Noun

zébra f ‎(genitive zébre, nominative plural zébre)

  1. zebra

Declension

Declension of zébra (feminine, a-stem)
singular dual plural
nominative zébra zébri zébre
accusative zébro zébri zébre
genitive zébre zéber zéber
dative zébri zébrama zébram
locative zébri zébrah zébrah
instrumental zébro zébrama zébrami

Spanish

Noun

zebra f ‎(plural zebras)

  1. Obsolete spelling of cebra

Swedish

Alternative forms

Noun

zebra c

  1. zebra

Declension

Inflection of zebra 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative zebra zebran zebror zebrorna
Genitive zebras zebrans zebrors zebrornas

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowing from English zebra.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈzeb.ɾɑ]
  • Hyphenation: zeb‧ra

Noun

zebra ‎(definite accusative zebrayı, plural zebralar)

  1. zebra

Declension

declension of zebra
singular (tekil) plural (çoğul)
nominative (yalın) zebra zebralar
definite accusative (belirtme) zebrayı zebraları
dative (yönelme) zebraya zebralara
locative (bulunma) zebrada zebralarda
ablative (ayrılma) zebradan zebralardan
genitive (tamlayan) zebranın zebraların

Etymology

1600; from Italian zebra, from Portuguese zebra, zebro ‎(“zebra”), from Old 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”).

(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.

While the word was traditionally pronounced with a long initial vowel in standard English, during the twentieth century a vowel shift occurred in regions of England, with the adoption of an initial short vowel.[1] This pronunciation is now used throughout the UK and Commonwealth. The long vowel pronunciation remains standard in American English.

Pronunciation

  • (UK, Commonwealth) IPA(key): /ˈzɛbɹə/, /ˈziːbɹə/
  • (US and trad. English) IPA(key): /ˈziːbɹə/

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