zedhttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zed_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_usezed, n.
Revised 2018

zednoun

Not generally used in U.S. English, where the usual word is zee.
  1. 1.
    c1175–
    (A name for) the letter Z, z, the last letter of the alphabet in English and other modern languages (see Z n.).
    figurative in quot. 1608, applied contemptuously to a person.
    1. c1175
      X x ix [or perh. read ex], Y y fix, Z zede.
      Names of Letters in N. R. Ker, Catalogue MSS containing Anglo-Saxon (1957) 337
    2. a1425 (c1400)
      We have in oure langage too lettres more þane þei have in here, þat is to sey, y [i.e. þ] & z, which is called thorn and zedde.
      Mandeville's Travels (Laud MS. 699) f. 37, in Middle English Dictionary (at cited word)
      [Composed c1400]
    3. c1425
      For as miche as þe carect yogh, þat is to seie ȝ, is figurid lijk a zed, þerfore alle þe wordis of þis table þat biginnen wiþ þat carect ben set in zed, which is þe laste lettre of þe a.b.c.
      Concordance Wycliffite Bible in Speculum (1968) vol. 43 272 (Middle English Dictionary)
    4. 1582
      Hence cummeth it that so manie zeds in our tung ar herd, & so few sene, for dexteritie and spede in the currantnesse of writing.
      R. Mulcaster, 1st Part of Elementarie xxiii. 161
    5. 1608
      Thou whorson Zedd, thou vnnecessarie letter.
      W. Shakespeare, King Lear vii. 62
    6. 1654
      You must not suffer your Scholars to call these six Letters h, g, j, v, w, z,..but to give them names.., as not to call [h] [ache,] but [eh,]..nor [z] zed, nor zad.., but [ez].
      J. Brooksbank, Plain Rules Syllabication English Words 16
    7. 1755
      Z..[Name] zed, more commonly izzard or uzzard, that is, shard.
      S. Johnson, Gram. English Tongue in Dictionary
    8. 1775
      Zee would be a less perplexing name than zed.
      C. Telfair, Town & Country Spelling-book Notes 3
    9. 1817
      Children..often call this letter Izard... They should be taught to pronounce it Zed.
      Err. Pron. London 38
    10. 1893
      The Z-patterns (fine lines arranged diagonally, like natural and reversed Zeds combined).
      F. Madan, Books in Manuscript 53
    11. 1930
      Borrow a set of the Encyclopaedia Brittanica [sic], and study articles..volume after volume, from the A's to the Zeds.
      Week (Brisbane) 11 April 37/5
    12. 1947
      There are many zeds pronounced, but there are, in comparison, few written z's.
      C. T. Onions in E. Barker, Char. of Eng. xii. 297
    13. 2015
      Dennis, Helen, and Denize (with a zed).
      Belfast Telegraph (Nexis) 19 June
  2. 2.
    1891–
    More fully zed bar. A steel girder with a Z-shaped cross-section, esp. as used in shipbuilding; = Z-bar n. at Z n. I.2. Now chiefly historical.
    1. 1891
      Angles, Zeds, Channels, Beams, Bars.
      Engineering vol. 51 Advts. p. xxxviii
    2. 1892
      The improved sections of steel known as channel and zed bars.
      Daily News 9 September 6/1
    3. 1905
      The frames are generally made of angle bars, but there are many other forms in use, as zed bars, bulb angle, channel bars, etc.
      Far Eastern Review February 26/1
    4. 1948
      As a substitute for built frames, zed bars were first employed, but have now been almost entirely superseded by bulb angles and channel bars.
      Shipping World & Shipbuilding & Marine Engin. News 4 February 194/2
    5. 2013
      About two-thirds [sc. of structural steel] was in the form of plates, the rest as stiffeners, sections such as angle bars, channels or zed bars.
      I. Johnston & I. L. Buxton, Battleship Builders ix. 224/2
  3. 3.
    1973–
    colloquial. In plural. Sleep (where zed represents the sound of snoring); = Z n. I.4b. Chiefly in phrases, as to catch some zeds and variants: to get some sleep.
    1. 1973
      I was certainly pounding the zeds when the alarm went off at 4 a.m.
      New Zealand Alpine Journal vol. 26 98/1
    2. 1997
      I decided to make my last pitiful attempt to catch some zeds.
      Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 23 August 6
    3. 2006
      Physical problems that tend to be associated with sleep deprivation..are not actually to do with your lack of zeds.
      Guardian 19 December (G2 section) 17/3
    4. 2015
      Banked enough zeds to last for a bit.
      P. Graeme-Evans, Wild Wood 94

zed, n. was revised in June 2018.

zed, n. was last modified in September 2024.