英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

zany (adj.)[zany 词源字典]: 1610s, from zany (n.). Related: Zanily; zaniness.[zany etymology, zany origin, 英语词源]
Zanzibar: island off East Africa, from Zengi, name of a local people, said to mean "black," + Arabic barr "coast, shore." Related: Zanzibari.
zap: 1929 as a sound, 1942 as a verb; a comic strip word (especially from "Buck Rogers in the Twenty-Fifth Century"), of imitative origin. Meaning "erase electronically" is 1982. Related: Zapped; zapping.
zapper (n.): electrical pest-killer, 1970, from zap.
Zarathustra: from Avestan Zarathushtra (see Zoroastrian). Related: Zarathustrian.
zarf (n.): "holder for a coffee cup," 1836, from Arabic zarf "vessel."
zeal (n.): "passionate ardor in pursuit of an objective or course of action," late 14c., from Old French zel (Modern French zèle) and directly from Late Latin zelus "zeal, emulation" (source also of Italian zelo, Spanish celo), a Church word, from Greek zelos "ardor, eager rivalry, emulation," "a noble passion" [Liddell & Scott], but also "jealousy;" prom PIE *ya- "to seek, request, desire." From mid-15c. as "devotion."
zealot (n.): early 14c., "member of a militant 1st century Jewish sect which fiercely resisted the Romans in Palestine," from Late Latin zelotes, from Greek zelotes "one who is a zealous follower," from zeloun "to be zealous," from zelos "zeal" (see zeal). Extended sense of "a fanatical enthusiast" first recorded 1630s (earlier in this sense was zelator, mid-15c.).
zealotry (n.): "excessive or undue zeal, fanaticism," 1650s, from zealot + -ry.
zealous (adj.): 1520s, from Medieval Latin zelosus "full of zeal" (source of Italian zeloso, Spanish celoso), from zelus (see zeal). Related: Zealously, zealousness.
zebra (n.): c. 1600, from Italian zebra, perhaps via Portuguese, earlier applied to a now-extinct wild ass, of uncertain origin, said to be Congolese [OED], or Amharic [Klein], but perhaps ultimately from Latin equiferus "wild horse," from equus "horse" (see equine) + ferus (see fierce). Related: Zebrine; zebroid.
zebu (n.): Asiatic ox, 1774, from French zebu, ultimately of Tibetan origin. First shown in Europe at the Paris fair of 1752.
Zebulon: masc. proper name, Biblical son of Jacob by Leah, from Hebrew Zebhulun, from zebhul "a dwelling" + diminutive suffix -on (see Gen. xxx:20).
Zechariah: masc. proper name, Biblical 11th of the Twelve Prophets; see Zachariah.
zed (n.): c. 1400, from Middle French zede, from Late Latin zeta, from Greek zeta, from Hebrew zayin, letter name, literally "weapon;" so called in reference to the shape of this letter in ancient Hebrew. U.S. pronunciation zee is first attested 1670s. Other dialectal names for the letter are izzard, ezod, uzzard, and zod.
zee (n.): "the letter Z," 1670s, now more common in American English.
zein (n.): simple protein obtained from maize and wheat, 1822, from zea, Late Latin name for "spelt," from Greek zeia "one-seeded wheat, barley, corn" (from PIE root *yewo-) + -in (2).
Zeiss (adj.): in reference to spy-glasses or binoculars, 1905, from the firm founded by German optical instrument manufacturer Carl Zeiss (1816-1888).
zeitgeist (n.): 1848, from German Zeitgeist (Herder, 1769), "spirit of the age," literally "time-spirit," from Zeit "time" (see tide (n.)) + Geist "spirit" (see ghost (n.)). Carlyle has it as a German word in "Sartor Resartus" (1840) and translates it as "Time-Spirit."
zek (n.): "Russian condemned person in a prison or labor camp," 1968, from Russian zek, probably representing a vocalization of z/k, abbreviation of zaklyuchennyi "prisoner."