different between zek vs zee

English

Etymology

From Russian ???? (z??k), probably representing a pronunciation of ?/? (z/k), Soviet abbreviation of ??????????? (zaklju?ónnyj, “prisoner”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /z?k/

Noun

zek (plural zeks)

1. A prisoner at a Russian prison, especially (historical) at a Soviet labour camp. [from 20th c.]
   • 1988, Stefani Hoffman, translating Natan Sharansky, Fear No Evil, p. 235:

     Every prisoner who recants is a potential influence on other zeks to do likewise.

   • 2004, Jason Burke, The Observer, 8 Feb 2004:

     There are the zeks, the survivors of the gulags, some honest about their experiences, others still deluded or traumatised decades later.

Anagrams

• Kez

Basque

Noun

zek

1. ergative indefinite of ze

Breton

Numeral

zek

1. Soft mutation of dek.

English

Etymology 1

1670s: variant of British English zed, by analogy with other letters such as bee, dee, tee and vee, and standardized by Noah Webster; from Middle French zede, from Late Latin zeta, from Ancient Greek ???? (zêta), from Hebrew ?? (zayin).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?zi?/
• Rhymes: -i?

Noun

zee (plural zees) (chiefly US, Newfoundland, Philippines, sometimes Canada)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter Z.
2. Something Z-shaped. Found in compounds.

3. (colloquial, usually in the plural) Sleep.

Synonyms

• zed (UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa)
• izzard (Scotland, South Asia)

Translations

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) letter; a, bee, cee, dee, e, ef, gee, aitch, i, jay, kay, el, em, en, o, pee, cue, ar, ess, tee, u, vee, double-u, ex, wye, zee / zed

Verb

zee (third-person singular simple present zees, present participle zeeing, simple past and past participle zeed) (chiefly US, Newfoundland)

1. (intransitive, informal) To sleep or nap. (Compare zzz, catch some z's.)
2. (intransitive, rare) To zigzag; to move with sharp alternating turns.

See also

• zeta

Etymology 2

Article

zee

1. Pronunciation spelling of the, representing primarily French-accented English.

Anagrams

• EEZ, Eze.

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch sêe, from Old Dutch s?o, from Proto-Germanic *saiwiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ze?/
• Hyphenation: zee
• Rhymes: -e?

Noun

zee f (plural zeeën, diminutive zeetje n)

1. sea

   De oude man en de zee.

   The Old Man and the Sea.

Derived terms

Descendants

• Afrikaans: see
• ? Sranan Tongo: se
• ? Saramaccan: zé

Estonian

Noun

zee (genitive [please provide], partitive [please provide])

1. The name of the Latin-script letter Z.

Latin

Noun

zee

1. vocative singular of zeus

San Juan Guelavía Zapotec

Etymology

Cognate with Zoogocho Zapotec za'a.

Noun

zee

1. a fresh ear of corn

References

• López Antonio, Joaquín; Jones, Ted; Jones, Kris (2012) Vocabulario breve del Zapoteco de San Juan Guelavía?^[1] (in Spanish), second electronic edition, Tlalpan, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., pages 20

Swahili

Pronunciation

Adjective

-zee (declinable)

1. old

Inflection

Antonyms

• -pya

Related terms

• mzee
• uzee