zednoun
Meaning & use
Not generally used in U.S. English, where the usual word is zee.
- 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.
- 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 - 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] - 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) - 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.
, 1st Part of Elementarie xxiii. 161 - 1608
Thou whorson Zedd, thou vnnecessarie letter.
, King Lear vii. 62 - 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].
, Plain Rules Syllabication English Words 16 - 1755
Z..[Name] zed, more commonly izzard or uzzard, that is, shard.
, Gram. English Tongue in Dictionary - 1775
Zee would be a less perplexing name than zed.
, Town & Country Spelling-book Notes 3 - 1817
Children..often call this letter Izard... They should be taught to pronounce it Zed.
Err. Pron. London 38 - 1893
The Z-patterns (fine lines arranged diagonally, like natural and reversed Zeds combined).
, Books in Manuscript 53 - 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 - 1947
There are many zeds pronounced, but there are, in comparison, few written z's.
in E. Barker, Char. of Eng. xii. 297 - 2015
Dennis, Helen, and Denize (with a zed).
Belfast Telegraph (Nexis) 19 June
- 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.
- 1891
Angles, Zeds, Channels, Beams, Bars.
Engineering vol. 51 Advts. p. xxxviii - 1892
The improved sections of steel known as channel and zed bars.
Daily News 9 September 6/1 - 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 - 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 - 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.
& , Battleship Builders ix. 224/2
- 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.
- 1973
I was certainly pounding the zeds when the alarm went off at 4 a.m.
New Zealand Alpine Journal vol. 26 98/1 - 1997
I decided to make my last pitiful attempt to catch some zeds.
Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 23 August 6 - 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 - 2015
Banked enough zeds to last for a bit.
, Wild Wood 94