# zebra
## English
### Etymology

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. This pronunciation is now used throughout the UK and most Commonwealth nations. The long-vowel pronunciation remains standard in Canadian and American English.
(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.

### Pronunciation

* (UK, Commonwealth) IPA: /ˈzɛbɹə/
** Audio (UK):(file)
** Hyphenation: zeb‧ra
* (Canadian, US and traditional British English) IPA: /ˈziːbɹə/
** Audio (US):(file)
* (Indic) IPA: /ziːbɾaː/
* Hyphenation: ze‧bra
* Rhymes: -ɛbɹə (UK, Commonwealth), -iːbɹə

### Noun

zebra (plural zebra or zebras)
* Any of three species of subgenus Hippotigris: E. grevyi, E. quagga, or E. zebra, all with black and white stripes and native to Africa.
* (sports, slang) A referee.
* (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."
* (medicine, by extension) Someone who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or hypermobility spectrum disorder
** 2020, Pharmaceutical Technology‎: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:“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.
* (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.”
* (informal) A zebra cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata).
* Any of various papilionid butterflies of the subgenus Paranticopsis of the genus Graphium, having black and white markings.
* 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 . . .

#### Usage notes

* (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.

#### Hyponyms

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

#### Derived terms

* Burchell's zebra (Equus quagga burchellii)
* Chapman's zebra (Equus quagga chapmani)
* common zebra (Equus quagga)
* Crawshay's zebra (Equus quagga crawshayi)
* Damaraland zebra (Equus quagga burchellii)
* Grant's zebra (Equus quagga boehmi)
* Grevy's zebra, Grévy's zebra (Equus grevyi)
* Hartmann's mountain zebra (Equus zebra hartmannae)
* maneless zebra (Equus quagga borensis)
* mountain zebra (Equus zebra)
* Persian zebra (Equus hermionus onager)
* plains zebra (Equus quagga
* Selous's zebra (Equus quagga selousi)
* zebra acara (Nannacara adoketa)
* zebra antelope (Cephalophus zebra)
* zebra blue butterfly (Leptotes plinius )
* zebra butterfly (Heliconius charithonia)
* zebra cake
* zebra caterpillar (Melanchra picta)
* zebra chip
* zebra cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata)
* zebra crossing
* zebra danio (Danio rerio)
* zebra dove (Geopelia striata)
* zebra duiker (Cephalophus zebra)
* zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata)
* zebrafish, zebra fish (Danio rerio etc.)
* zebra giraffe (Okapia johnstoni)
* zebra haworthia (Haworthiopsis attenuata)
* zebraic
* zebralike
* zebra lionfish (Dendrochirus zebra)
* zebra mongoose (Mungos mungo)
* zebra mouse
* zebra mule
* zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha)
* zebra opossum (†Thylacinus cynocephalus)
* zebra parakeet
* zebra parrot (Melopsittacus undulatus)
* zebra plant
* zebra poison (Euphorbia arborea)
* zebra seahorse
* zebra shark (Stegostoma fasciatum)
* zebra spider (Salticus scenicus)
* zebrass
* zebra striping
* zebra swallowtail (Protographium marcellus)
* zebra-tailed lizard, Callisaurus draconoides
* zebra turkeyfish (Dendrochirus zebra)
* zebra wolf (†Thylacinus cynocephalus)
* zebrawood (Microberlinia spp., etc.)
* zebrine
* zebroid
* zeedonk
* zeehorse
* zorse
* Zululand zebra (Equus quagga burchellii)

#### Translations
### See also

* quagga
* Equus burchelli, Equus grevyi, Equus quagga, Equus zebra

### References

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

### Anagrams

* Zaber, braze

## Basque
### Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish cebra.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /s̻ebra/ [s̻e.β̞ra]
* IPA: (most dialects) /s̻ebra/ [s̻e.β̞ra]
* IPA: (Biscayan) /s̺ebra/ [s̺e.β̞ra]
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ebra, -a
* Hyphenation: ze‧bra

### Noun

zebra anim
* zebra

#### Derived terms

* zebra-bide (“zebra crossing”)

### Further reading

* “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

## Catalan
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [ˈze.βɾə]
* IPA: (Balearic) [ˈze.bɾə]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈze.bɾa]
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

zebra f (plural zebres)
* zebra

#### Derived terms

* peix zebra
* zebrat

### Further reading

* “zebra” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

## Cebuano
### Etymology

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”).

### Noun

zebra
* 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
* a pattern or motif similar to the stripes of a zebra
* (informal) an animal with zebra-like stripes

## Corsican
### Etymology

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”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈzɛbra/

### Noun

zebra f (plural zebre)
* Alternative form of zebru

#### References

* https://infcor.adecec.net/

## Crimean Tatar
### Etymology

Probably from Russian зебра (zebra), from Italian zebra

### Noun

zebra
* zebra
    Synonym: qaşqalı at

#### Declension
### References

* “zebra”, in Luğatçıq (in Russian)

## Czech
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈzɛbra]

### Noun

zebra f
* zebra

#### Derived terms

* zebřička
* zebří

### Further reading

* “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

## Danish
### Noun

zebra c (singular definite zebraen, plural indefinite zebraer)
* zebra

#### Declension
## Dutch
### Etymology

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.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈzeː.braː/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: ze‧bra

### Noun

zebra m (plural zebra's, diminutive zebraatje n)
* a zebra, a black-and-white striped equid of the genus Equus; Equus zebra, Equus quagga or Equus grevyi [from late 16th c.]
* a zebra crossing, a pedestrian crossing [from mid 1950s.]
    Synonym: zebrapad

#### Hypernyms

* (pedestrian crossing): oversteekplaats

#### Hyponyms

* (zebra): quagga

#### Derived terms

* zebrahaai
* zebrapad
* zebraprint

## Esperanto
### Etymology

From zebro (“zebra”) +‎ -a.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈzebra]
* Rhymes: -ebra
* Hyphenation: ze‧bra

### Adjective

zebra (accusative singular zebran, plural zebraj, accusative plural zebrajn)
* zebrine, hippotigrine

#### Hypernyms

* ekveda (“equid”)

## Hungarian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈzɛbrɒ]
* Hyphenation: zeb‧ra
* Rhymes: -rɒ

### Noun

zebra (plural zebrák)
* (biology) zebra (animal)
* (road transport) pedestrian crossing, crosswalk, zebra crossing

#### Synonyms

* (crosswalk): gyalogátkelőhely

#### Derived terms

(Compound words):
* zebrapinty

### Further reading

* zebra in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

## Indonesian
### Noun

zebra (plural zebra-zebra)
* zebra
* zebra walk

## Italian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: $^*$/ˈd͡zɛ.bra/
* Rhymes: -ɛbra
* Hyphenation: zè‧bra

### Noun

zebra f (plural zebre)
* zebra
* (in the plural, informal) zebra crossing/crosswalk

## Kashubian
### Etymology

Borrowed from Polish zebra.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈzɛ.bra/
* Rhymes: -ɛbra
* Syllabification: ze‧bra

### Noun

zebra f
* zebra (striped mammal of the genus Equus)

### References

* Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “zebra”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎

## Ladin
### Noun

zebra f (plural zebres)
* zebra

## Latin
### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈze.bra/, [ˈz̪ɛbrä]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈd͡ze.bra/, [ˈd̪͡z̪ɛːbrä]

### Noun

zebra f (genitive zebrae); first declension
* (New Latin) zebra (Equus zebra)

#### Declension

First-declension noun.

## Latvian
### 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: /ˈzɛbra/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

zebra f (4th declension)
* zebra (esp. Equus zebra)

#### Declension
## Polish
### Etymology

Borrowed from French zèbre.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈzɛ.bra/
* Audio 1:(file)
* Audio 2:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛbra
* Syllabification: ze‧bra

### Noun

zebra f
* zebra (any equid of the subgenus Hippotigris)
* (colloquial) crosswalk, pedestrian crossing, zebra crossing (pedestrian crossing featuring broad white stripes)
    Synonyms: pasy, przejście dla pieszych
* black and white striped pattern

#### Related terms

* zebroid
* zebrula
* zebryna

#### Descendants

* → Kashubian: zebra

### Further reading

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

## Portuguese
### Etymology 1

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.

#### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈze.bɾɐ/
* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈze.bɾɐ/
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /ˈze.bɾa/
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈze.bɾɐ/ [ˈze.βɾɐ]
* Hyphenation: ze‧bra

#### Noun

zebra f (plural zebras)
* 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)
* (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!
* (Brazil, slang) an unexpected result in a competition
* (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)
* (Brazil, informal) prison uniform
* (Portugal, informal) zebra crossing
* (Portugal, informal) vice, a bad habit
* (Beira) a type of lanky spinning top
* (motor racing) curb (line of flat curbstones on the corners of racing tracks)
* 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)
* (obsolete) cow

##### Usage notes

* 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 don't necessarily need to agree in gender with the referent, but would change to macha if so.

##### Derived terms

* amboré-zebra (Gobiosoma hemigymnum)
* azebrar
* borboleta-zebra
* bótia-zebra (Botia striata)
* bromélia-zebra (Aechmea chantinii)
* cabrito-zebra (Cephalophus zebra)
* cascudo-zebra (Hypancistrus zebra)
* cirurgião-zebra (Acanthurus lineatus)
* dar zebra
* dourada-zebra (Brachyplatystoma juruense)
* galinha-zebra (Dendrochirus zebra)
* linguado-zebra (Gymnachirus nudus)
* mexilhão-zebra (Dreissena polymorpha)
* moreia-zebra (Gymnomuraena zebra)
* paleta-zebra (Branchiostegus semifasciatus)
* peixe-zebra
* planta-zebra
* tubarão-zebra (Stegostoma tigrinum)
* zebra-comum (Equus quagga)
* zebra-da-montanha (Equus zebra)
* zebra-da-planície (Equus quagga)
* zebra-de-burchell (Equus quagga burchellii)
* zebra-de-chapmann (Equus quagga chapmani)
* zebra-de-grant (Equus quagga boehmi)
* zebra-de-grevy (Equus grevyi)
* zebrado
* zebral
* zebralo
* zebrano
* zebrar
* zebrário
* zebrasno
* zebrino
* zebroide

##### Related terms

* égua
* equestre
* equino
* equitação
* Felipe
* Filipe
* Filipinas
* filipino
* hipismo
* hipo-
* hipódromo
* hipogrifo
* Hipólito
* hipopótamo

##### Descendants

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

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈzɛ.bɾɐ/
* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈzɛ.bɾɐ/
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /ˈzɛ.bɾa/
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈzɛ.bɾɐ/ [ˈzɛ.βɾɐ]
* Hyphenation: ze‧bra

#### Verb

zebra
* inflection of zebrar:
** third-person singular present indicative
** second-person singular imperative

### Further reading

* “zebra”, in iDicionário Aulete (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), Porto: 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

## Serbo-Croatian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /zêbra/

### Noun

zȅbra f (Cyrillic spelling зе̏бра)
* zebra

#### Declension
## Slovene
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /zèːbra/, /zéːbra/

### Noun

zẹ̄bra f
* zebra

#### Inflection
### Further reading

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

## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈtsebɾa/ [ˈt̪se.β̞ɾa]
* Rhymes: -ebɾa

### Noun

zebra f (plural zebras)
* Obsolete spelling of cebra.

### Further reading

* “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], 2024 December 10

## Swedish
### Alternative forms

* sebra

### Noun

zebra c
* zebra
    Zebror är randiga / har ränderZebras 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]

#### Declension
### References

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

## Turkish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Italian zebra.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈzeb.ɾɑ]
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: zeb‧ra

### Noun

zebra (definite accusative zebrayı, plural zebralar)
* zebra