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Origin and history of zed

zed(n.)

"the name of the letter Z in the alphabet," late 12c., probably from Old French zede, from Late Latin zeta, from Greek zēta, 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 attested by 1670s.

Of z Dr. Webster says : "It is pronounced zee." So he has taught Americans to call it ; but this fact did not warrant him in stating roundly what he knew to be, with regard to all Britons, totally false. [Fitzedward Hall, "Modern English," 1873]

Other dialectal names for the letter are izzard, ezod, uzzard, and zod. A variant zad developed a colloquial extended sense of "crooked-shaped person or thing" (1725).

ZEDLAND. Great part of the west country, where the letter Z is substituted for S ; as zee for see, zun for sun, &c. &c. This prevails through the counties of Devonshire, Dorsetshire, and Somersetshire. [Grose, 1796]

also from late 12c.

Entries linking to zed

cedilla(n.)

"mark placed under the letter -c- in certain situations," 1590s, from Spanish cedilla, zedilla, literally "little z," from a Latin-like diminutive of Greek zēta "the letter 'z'" (see zed). The mark, mainly used in French and Portuguese (formerly also used in Spanish), was derived from that letter and indicates a "soft" sound in letters in positions where normally they have a "hard" sound. Sometimes the word is used as though it means the entire character ç.

izzard(n.)

old name for "Z," 1738, a variant of zed. The guess that it representes S-hard wants evidence.

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Trends of zed

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

zymurgy
Brandt is young and gay But when at last he reaches zed He's in his wheelchair, nearly dead [Einar Haugen]...
letter
c. 1200, "graphic symbol, alphabetic sign, written character conveying information about sound in speech," from Old French letre "character, letter; missive, note," in plural, "literature, writing, learning" (10c., Modern French lettre), from Latin littera (also litera) "letter o
Z
not a native letter in Old English; in Anglo-French words it represents the "ts" sound (as in Anglo-French fiz, from Latin filius, modern Fitz); from late 13c. it began to be used for the voiced "s" sound and had fully taken that role by 1400. For letter name, see zed. Thou whor
renounce
late 14c., renouncen, "give up (something, especially to another), resign, surrender," from Old French renoncier "give up, cede" (12c., Modern French renoncer) and directly from Latin renuntiare "bring back word; proclaim; protest against, renounce," from re- "against" (see re-)
masquerade
1590s, "assembly of persons wearing masks and usually other disguises," from French mascarade or Spanish mascarada "masked party or dance," from Italian mascarata "a ball at which masks are worn," variant of mascherata "masquerade," from maschera (see mask (n.)). Extended sense o
baffle
1540s, "to disgrace," of uncertain origin. Perhaps a Scottish respelling of bauchle "to disgrace publicly" (especially a perjured knight), which is probably related to French bafouer "to abuse, hoodwink" (16c.), possibly from baf, a natural sound of disgust, like bah (compare Ger
arrogance
"a manifest feeling of superiority of one's worth or importance, combined with contempt of others," c. 1300, from Old French arrogance (12c.), from Latin arrogantia "presumption, pride, haughtiness," abstract noun from arrogantem (nominative arrogans) "assuming, overbearing, inso
access
early 14c., "an attack of fever," from Old French acces "onslaught, attack; onset (of an illness)," from Latin accessus "a coming to, an approach; way of approach, entrance," noun use of past participle of accedere "to approach," from assimilated form of ad "to" (see ad-) + ceder
demise
mid-15c., "transference of property, grant of land for life or a period of years," via Anglo-French from Old French demis, fem. past participle of desmetre "dismiss, put away" (Modern French démettre), from des- "away" (from Latin dis-) + metre "put," from Latin mittere "let go,
testimony
c. 1400, "proof or demonstration of some fact, evidence, piece of evidence;" early 15c., "legal testimony, sworn statement of a witness," from Old North French testimonie (Old French testimoine 11c.), from Latin testimonium "evidence, proof, witness, attestation," from testis "a

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Dictionary entries near zed
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