zapatahttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zapata_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_useZapata, n.
Revised 2025

Zapatanoun

  1. 1962–
    As a modifier, designating a type of moustache in which the two ends extend downwards to the chin. Chiefly in Zapata moustache.
    Emiliano Zapata (see etymology) was portrayed with a moustache of this kind by Marlon Brando in the 1952 film Viva Zapata!
    1. 1962
      His concession to non-conformity is the cultivation of a zapata moustache.
      Daily Advertiser (Lafayette) 16 October 22/3
    2. 1977
      He is a heavy, buccaneering figure with a Zapata mustache.
      New York Review of Books 4 August 11/1
    3. 1983
      I was delighted to see a few shots of Karajan as stage actor—hiding behind a Zapata moustache as a bit-part cardsharper in the Carmen film he made in 1967.
      Manchester Guardian Weekly 22 May 20/1
    4. 1988
      He was coot-bald with a glistening pate and a luxurious Zapata 'tache.
      Punch 13 May 45/3
    5. 2015
      Gerry Simpson, in his mid 20s, with a retro mullet of brown hair and a Zapata moustache, was sitting on a battered sofa.
      G. Dowson, Closing Distance iii. 71

Zapata, n. was revised in March 2025.