English edit

Etymology 1 edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /zə/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes:

Article edit

ze

  1. Nonstandard spelling of the (usually signifying a foreign accent, often French or German).
    Synonym: za
    • 1992, Tristan Jones, Adrift, page 257:
      Then one French-American sous-chef, still in his white kitchen gear, climbed down from the cockpit, where he had been inspecting the cabin, peering inside, murmuring, "wonderfool–wonderfool, ze workmansheep!"

Etymology 2 edit

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

Pronunciation edit

Pronoun edit

ze

  1. (rare, nonstandard) a gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun, equivalent to singular they, and coordinate with gendered pronouns he and she.
    • 1996 June, Caitlin Sullivan with Bornstein, Kate, Nearly Roadkill: an Infobahn erotic adventure[1], New York: Serpent's Tail, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, LCC PS3569.U3449 N43 1996, page 10:
      But I do know what sex ze is. It used to influence me. But now I talk to hir like a normal person. I mean, without thinking about what ze is.
    • 1997 December 18, Kate Bornstein, My Gender Workbook: How to Become a Real Man, a Real Woman, the Real You, or Something Else Entirely, London, New York: Routledge, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, LCC HQ1075.B69 1998, page 130:
      A case in point is Tula, a transgendered woman who for years lived well as a model and actress until ze was outed in both national and international media.
    • 2006 March 22, Leslie Feinberg, Drag King Dreams, New York: Carroll & Graf, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, LCC PS3556.E427 D73 2006, page 205:
      Ze takes my right hand in hirs and folds it into a fist.
    • 2010 October 12, Erika Lopez, The Girl Must Die: A Monster Girl Memoir, Hicken, Jeffrey, San Francisco: Monster Girl Media, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 143:
      Ze changed hir name to one of those New Testament names, and re-fashioned hirself into a soft, puffy, half-finished hermaphrodite nicknamed, The Pop n' Fresh Doe.
    • 2011 March 15, M. J. Locke, Up Against It, New York: Tor, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, LCC PS3612.O249 U7 2011, page 361:
      Hir face was implacable, but ze dashed away in tears.
Usage notes edit
  • The genderqueer community are the primary proponents of ze. One refers to a person with ze and hir or zir typically (a) when their gender is unknown, and one wishes to avoid assuming their gender, or (b) when they are neither male nor female in gender, making he and she (and also either/or terms like s/he or (s)he) inappropriate and potentially hurtful.
Synonyms edit
Coordinate terms edit

See also edit

Etymology 3 edit

Noun edit

ze (plural zes)

  1. The name of the Cyrillic script letter З / з.

Anagrams edit

Albanian edit

Etymology edit

A Gheg dialect word, of unclear origin.

Noun edit

ze f (plural ze, definite zeja, definite plural zejet)

  1. soul

Related terms edit

Aukan edit

Etymology edit

From Dutch zee (sea).

Noun edit

ze

  1. the sea, the ocean

References edit

Basque edit

Pronunciation edit

 
  • IPA(key): (most dialects) /s̻e/ [s̻e]
  • IPA(key): (Biscayan) /s̺e/ [s̺e]

  • Rhymes: -e
  • Hyphenation: ze

Etymology 1 edit

Borrowed from Spanish ce.

Noun edit

ze inan

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter C.
Declension edit
Derived terms edit
See also edit

Etymology 2 edit

Conjunction edit

ze

  1. (Biscayan) because
    Synonyms: zergatik, zeren
    • 1596, Joseba Lakarra, editor, Refranes y sentencias [Sayings and sentences] (Euskararen Lekukoak; 19)‎[2], Bilbao: Euskaltzaindia, published 1996, →ISBN, page 248:
      Adi adi ce Jaungoycoa dagoc adi. [Original spelling]
      Adi adi, ze Jaungoikoa dagok adi. [Modernized spelling]
      Be careful, because God is looking.
  2. (obsolete) than
    • 1596, Joseba Lakarra, editor, Refranes y sentencias [Sayings and sentences] (Euskararen Lekukoak; 19)‎[3], Bilbao: Euskaltzaindia, published 1996, →ISBN, page 262:
      Nayago dot to bat, çe amaui emon deyat. [Original spelling]
      Naiago dot to bat, ze amabi emon deiat. [Modernized spelling]
      I prefer a "take one" over twelve "I'll give you one".
  3. (Biscayan, Gipuzkoan) Introduces a subordinate clause expressing a result, consequence or effect; that
    Synonym: ezen
    • c. 1567, Joan Perez de Lazarraga, Doncellachoa, orain çaoz... :
      Ala çara mudaduco, ce / ez çau inorc eçautuco
      You'll change so much that / nobody will recognize you
  4. (archaic, possibly obsolete) Introduces a clause that is the subject or object of a verb; that

Etymology 3 edit

Determiner edit

ze (interrogative)

  1. Colloquial form of zer (what)

Pronoun edit

ze (interrogative)

  1. Colloquial form of zer (what)

Further reading edit

  • "ze" in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy], euskaltzaindia.eus
  • ze” in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], euskaltzaindia.eus

Cimbrian edit

Etymology 1 edit

From Middle High German si(e) (they), merged from Old High German sie m pl, sio f pl, siu n pl, from Proto-Germanic *īz m, *ijôz f, *ijō n, the nominative plural forms of *iz. Cognate with German sie, Dutch zij.

Pronoun edit

ze

  1. (Sette Comuni) they
    Synonym: zandare
Inflection edit
Alternative forms edit

Etymology 2 edit

Pronoun edit

ze

  1. Alternative form of zi (she)

References edit

  • “ze” in Martalar, Umberto Martello; Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo

Czech edit

Pronunciation edit

Preposition edit

ze [+genitive]

  1. Alternative form of z (from, out of)

Usage notes edit

  • The more usual form is z, while ze is used before words starting with s, z and certain consonant clusters.

Further reading edit

  • ze in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
  • ze in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch edit

Pronunciation edit

Pronoun edit

ze

  1. Unstressed form of zij (feminine singular subject)
    Daar zit ze.There she is sitting.
  2. Unstressed form of zij (plural subject)
    Daar zitten ze.There they are sitting.
  3. Unstressed form of haar (feminine singular object)
    Ik zie ze.I see her.
  4. Unstressed form of hen, hun (plural object)
    Ik zie ze.I see them.

Usage notes edit

  • In the Netherlands, ze is used as a reduced form of haar chiefly when referring to feminine inanimate things:
Ik wist de waarheid niet en ik wilde ze ook niet weten.
I didn’t know the truth and didn’t wish to know it either.
It is often avoided by using the reduced form h'r or the masculine form hem or the neuter form het or, in formal style, the full form haar.
  • In Belgium, ze is usual as a reduced form of haar even when referring to persons (as in the example further above).
  • Ze is used in certain short and idiomatic phrases in the imperative wishing one good luck, the most common by far being werk ze (good luck at work!).

Inflection edit

Derived terms edit

Descendants edit

  • Javindo: se
  • Jersey Dutch: ,

Gun edit

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

  1. to take

Haitian Creole edit

Etymology edit

From French œufs (eggs). In French, the plural form œufs is commonly preceded by a determiner- such as aux, les or mes- whose final s or x is pronounced /z/ before vowels (and is otherwise silent). As a result, œufs was reanalyzed in Haitian Creole as beginning with /z/.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

ze

  1. egg

Ido edit

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

ze (plural ze-i)

  1. The name of the Latin script letter Z/z.

See also edit

Japanese edit

Romanization edit

ze

  1. Rōmaji transcription of
  2. Rōmaji transcription of

Kashubian edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈzʲɛ/
  • Syllabification: ze

Preposition edit

ze

  1. Alternative form of z.

Lower Sorbian edit

Pronunciation edit

Preposition edit

ze

  1. Alternative form of z (both meanings; used before sibilants and certain consonant clusters)
    Stej bratš ze sotšu.They are brother and sister (literally, “brother with sister”)

Luxembourgish edit

Alternative forms edit

  • zu (for the adverb, when stressed)

Etymology edit

From Middle High German ze, from Old High German zi, from Proto-Germanic *ta, reduced form of *tō, whence Luxembourgish zu and zou.

Pronunciation edit

Preposition edit

ze

  1. to (with a following infinitive)
    De Kaffi ass ze waarm fir ze drénken.
    The coffee is too hot to drink.

Adverb edit

ze

  1. too (more than enough, when unstressed)
    De Kaffi ass ze waarm fir ze drénken.
    The coffee is too hot to drink.

Mandarin edit

Romanization edit

ze

  1. Nonstandard spelling of .
  2. Nonstandard spelling of .
  3. Nonstandard spelling of .
  4. Nonstandard spelling of zê̄.

Usage notes edit

  • Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Masurian edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): [ˈzɛ]
  • Syllabification: ze

Etymology 1 edit

Inherited from Old Polish że.

Conjunction edit

ze

  1. introduces a subordinate clause; that

Etymology 2 edit

Preposition edit

ze

  1. Alternative form of z

Middle English edit

Etymology edit

From Old English .

Noun edit

ze

  1. Alternative form of see (sea)

Descendants edit

Middle High German edit

Preposition edit

ze (+ dative)

  1. Alternative form of zuo

Northern Qiang edit

Etymology edit

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *rəj.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

ze

  1. water

References edit

Zhou Facheng; Sun Hongkai (2010) 汉羌词典 [Chinese–Qiang dictionary]‎[4], Beijing: 中国文联出版社, →ISBN

Old Czech edit

Pronunciation edit

Preposition edit

ze

  1. Alternative form of z.

Old Polish edit

Pronunciation edit

Preposition edit

ze

  1. Alternative form of z

Polish edit

Etymology edit

Inherited from Old Polish z, from Proto-Slavic *jьz.

Pronunciation edit

Preposition edit

ze

  1. Alternative form of z

Particle edit

ze

  1. (colloquial) Alternative form of z

Usage notes edit

See z.

Further reading edit

  • ze in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • ze in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Saterland Frisian edit

Etymology edit

From Old Frisian [Term?], from Proto-West Germanic *sī. Cognates include West Frisian sy and German sie.

Pronunciation edit

Pronoun edit

ze

  1. unstressed form of ju (she)
  2. unstressed form of jo (they)

See also edit

References edit

  • Marron C. Fort (2015), “ze”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN

Silesian edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈzɛ/
  • Rhymes:
  • Syllabification: ze

Preposition edit

ze

  1. Alternative form of z

Turkish edit

Etymology 1 edit

Noun edit

ze (definite accusative zeyi, plural zeler)

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter Z.
See also edit

Etymology 2 edit

From Arabic زَاي (zāy).

Noun edit

ze

  1. Letter of the Arabic alphabet: ز

Turkmen edit

Noun edit

ze (definite accusative [please provide], plural [please provide])

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

White Hmong edit

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

ze

  1. near, close by, around

Xhosa edit

Etymology edit

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

Relative edit

-ze?

  1. naked
    Synonym: -ntswempu

Inflection edit

Relative concord
Modifier Copulative
positive negative positive negative
1st singular endize endingeze ndize andize
2nd singular oze ongeze uze awuze
1st plural esize esingeze size asize
2nd plural enize eningeze nize anize
Class 1 oze ongeze uze akaze
Class 2 abaze abangeze baze abaze
Class 3 oze ongeze uze awuze
Class 4 eze engeze ize ayize
Class 5 elize elingeze lize alize
Class 6 aze angeze aze awaze
Class 7 esize esingeze size asize
Class 8 ezize ezingeze zize azize
Class 9 eze engeze ize ayize
Class 10 ezize ezingeze zize azize
Class 11 oluze olungeze luze aluze
Class 14 obuze obungeze buze abuze
Class 15 okuze okungeze kuze akuze
Class 17 okuze okungeze kuze akuze

Yola edit

Verb edit

ze

  1. Alternative form of zee (to see)

References edit

  • Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 81

Zazaki edit

Adverb edit

ze

  1. same

Zulu edit

Etymology 1 edit

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

Pronunciation edit

IPA(key): /zé/

Relative edit

-zé

  1. empty
  2. naked
Inflection edit
Relative concord, tone H
Modifier Copulative
positive negative positive negative
1st singular engize engingeze ngize angize
2nd singular oze ongeze uze awuze
1st plural esize esingeze size asize
2nd plural enize eningeze nize anize
Class 1 oze ongeze uze akaze
Class 2 abaze abangeze baze abaze
Class 3 oze ongeze uze awuze
Class 4 eze engeze ize ayize
Class 5 elize elingeze lize alize
Class 6 aze angeze aze awaze
Class 7 esize esingeze size asize
Class 8 ezize ezingeze zize azize
Class 9 eze engeze ize ayize
Class 10 ezize ezingeze zize azize
Class 11 oluze olungeze luze aluze
Class 14 obuze obungeze buze abuze
Class 15 okuze okungeze kuze akuze
Class 17 okuze okungeze kuze akuze
Derived terms edit

Etymology 2 edit

From -za (to come).

Pronunciation edit

IPA(key): /ze/

Verb edit

-ze

  1. (auxiliary, in positive) until [+subjunctive]
    Sizolinda baze bafike.
    We will wait until they arrive.
    Sakhuluma waze wafika uthisha.
    We talked until the teacher arrived.
  2. (auxiliary, in positive, past) used in exclamations [+subjunctive]
    Waze wamuhle umakoti!
    Oh how beautiful the bride is!
  3. (auxiliary, in negative, present) never [+potential]
    Angize ngingadla inyama.
    I never eat meat.
  4. (auxiliary, in negative, past) never [+subjunctive]
    Akazange agibele ihhashi.
    He has never ridden a horse.
Inflection edit

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

References edit

C. M. Doke; B. W. Vilakazi (1972), “-ze”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “-ze