zebra stripe, n.

zebra-stripe
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zebra-stripe_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# zebra stripenoun

## Factsheet

### Where does the noun zebra stripe come from?

Earliest known use

1800s

The earliest known use of the noun zebra stripe is in the 1800s.

OED's earliest evidence for zebra stripe is from 1807, in the writing of R. A. Salisbury.

### Nearby entries

1. zebra parakeet, n. 1856–
2. zebra plant, n. 1826–
3. zebra poison, n. 1871–74
4. zebra print, n. & adj. 1932–
5. zebra rhomb, n. 1770–1844
6. zebra rock, n. 1895–
7. zebra rush, n. 1882–
8. zebra shark, n. 1804–
9. zebra skin, n. 1774–
10. zebra spider, n. 1806–
11. zebra stripe, n.1807–
12. zebra suit, n. 1853–
13. zebra swallowtail, n. 1855–
14. zebra wolf, n. 1808–
15. zebrawood, n. 1768–
16. zebra woodpecker, n. 1884–
17. zebrina, n. 1846–
18. zebrine, adj. a1810–
19. zebroid, adj. & n. 1881–
20. zebrule, n. 1899–
21. zebu, n. 1771–

## Meaning & use

1. 1807–
   See zebra n. Compounds.
   1. 1807

      > It is beautifully variegated with zebra stripes which appear through its whole substance.

      R. A. Salisbury, Paradisus Londinensis (1808) vol. II. i. Pl. lxxxix
   2. 1971

      > An ultra-modern bar in zebra stripes.

      ‘D. Shannon’, Ringer (1972) 148
   3. 2015

      > It has also been suggested that zebra stripes keep disease-carrying flies, such as tsetses and horseflies, from biting.

      Africa News: Conversation (Johannesburg) (Nexis) 20 August

Originally published as part of the entry for zebra, n.

zebra, n. was revised in June 2018.