different between zeal vs zel

English

Etymology

From Middle English zele, from Old French zel, from Late Latin z?lus, from Ancient Greek ????? (zêlos, “zeal, jealousy”), from Proto-Indo-European *yeh?- (“to search”). Related to jealous.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /zi?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /zil/
• Rhymes: -i?l

Noun

zeal (countable and uncountable, plural zeals)

1. The fervour or tireless devotion for a person, cause, or ideal and determination in its furtherance; diligent enthusiasm; powerful interest.

   Synonyms: ardour, eagerness, enthusiasm, intensity, passion

   Antonym: apathy

   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Romans 10.2,^[1]

     […] I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

   • 1687, John Dryden, The Hind and the Panther, London: Jacob Tonson, Part 3, p. 96,^[2]

     Zeal, the blind conductor of the will

   • 1779, David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Part 12, pp. 143-144,^[3]

     […] the highest zeal in religion and the deepest hypocrisy, so far from being inconsistent, are often or commonly united in the same individual character.

   • 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, London: John Murray, Volume 1, Chapter 14, p. 250,^[4]

     [He] would begin admiring her drawings with so much zeal and so little knowledge as seemed terribly like a would-be lover,

   • 1962, Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Chapter 15, p. 248,^[5]

     The stockman’s zeal for eliminating the coyote has resulted in plagues of field mice, which the coyote formerly controlled.

2. (obsolete) A person who exhibits such fervour or tireless devotion.

   Synonym: zealot

   • 1614, Ben Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, London: Robert Allot, Act V, Scene 5, p. 85,^[6]

     […] like a malicious purblinde zeale as thou art!

   • 1642, Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, London: Andrew Crooke, p. 5,^[7]

     […] there are questionlesse both in Greeke, Roman and Africa Churches, solemnities, and ceremonies, whereof the wiser zeales doe make a Christian use, and stand condemned by us;

3. The collective noun for a group of zebras.

   Synonyms: dazzle, herd

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Elza, laze, zale

English

Noun

zel (plural zels)

1. Alternative form of zill

Anagrams

• Lez, lez

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin z?lus, from Ancient Greek ????? (zêlos)

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?z?l/

Noun

zel m (plural zels)

1. fervor, zeal
2. heat, estrus

Related terms

• gelós

Further reading

• “zel” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “zel” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “zel” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “zel” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?z?l]

Noun

zel n

1. genitive plural of zlo

Latvian

Verb

zel

1. 2nd person singular present indicative form of zelt
2. 2nd person singular imperative form of zelt

Middle English

Noun

zel

1. Alternative form of zele

Middle French

Alternative forms

• zele

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin z?lus.

Noun

zel m (uncountable)

1. zeal

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French zèle.

Noun

zel n (uncountable)

1. zeal (fervor or devotion)

Declension

Synonyms

• râvn?, sârguin??, ardoare

Related terms

• zelos

Slovene

Etymology 1

From Proto-Slavic *z?l?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /z???/

Adjective

z??? (comparative zl?jši, superlative n?jzl?jši)

1. evil

Inflection

Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zé??/

Noun

z??? f

1. (clarification of this definition is needed) green plant

Inflection

Further reading

• “zel”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran