Z, z

[zee or, esp. British, zed; Archaic iz-erd] /zi or, esp. British, zɛd; Archaic ˈɪz ərd/
noun, plural Z's or Zs, z's or zs.
1.
the 26th letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
2.
any spoken sound represented by the letter Z or z, as in zero, zigzag, or buzzer.
3.
something having the shape of a Z .
4.
a written or printed representation of the letter Z or z.
5.
a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter Z or z.

Z

1.
Astronomy. zenith distance.
2.
zone.

Z

Symbol.
1.
the 26th in order or in a series, or, when I is omitted, the 25th.
2.
(sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 2000.
Compare Roman numerals.
3.
Chemistry, Physics. atomic number.
4.
Electricity, impedance.

z

1.
zone.

z

Symbol, Mathematics
1.
an unknown quantity or variable.
2.
(in Cartesian coordinates) the z- axis.

z.

1.
zero.

Z0

1.
Symbol, Physics. Z-zero particle.

z's

[zeez] /ziz/
noun, (used with a plural verb) Slang.
1.
sleep (often used with grab, catch, etc.):
to grab some z's before dinner.
Also, Z's.
Origin
1960-65; from the conventional use of a series of z's to represent snoring

zeta

[zey-tuh, zee-] /ˈzeɪ tə, ˈzi-/
noun
1.
the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet (Z, ζ).
2.
the consonant sound represented by this letter.
Origin
1820-30; < Greek zêta
British Dictionary definitions for z

z

symbol
1.
the z-axis or a coordinate measured along the z-axis in a Cartesian or cylindrical coordinate system
2.
an algebraic variable

z

/zɛd; US ziː/
noun (pl) z's, Z's, Zs
1.
the 26th and last letter and the 20th consonant of the modern English alphabet
2.
a speech sound represented by this letter, in English usually a voiced alveolar fricative, as in zip
3.
  1. something shaped like a Z
  2. (in combination): a Z-bend in a road

Z

symbol
1.
any unknown, variable, or unspecified factor, number, person, or thing
2.
(chem) atomic number
3.
(physics) impedance
4.
zone
5.
(currency) zaïre
abbreviation
6.
Zambia (international car registration)

zeta

/ˈziːtə/
noun
1.
the sixth letter in the Greek alphabet (Ζ, ζ), a consonant, transliterated as z
Word Origin
from Greek, of Semitic origin; compare Hebrew sādhē

Zeta

/ˈziːtə/
noun
1.
(foll by the genitive case of a specified constellation) the sixth brightest star in a constellation: Zeta Tauri

ZETA

/ˈziːtə/
noun
1.
a torus-shaped apparatus used for research in the 1950s and early 1960s on controlled thermonuclear reactions and plasma physics
Word Origin
C20: from z(ero-)e(nergy) t(hermonuclear) a(pparatus)
Word Origin and History for z

Z

not a native letter in Old English; in Anglo-French words it represents the "ts" sound (e.g. 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 whoreson Zed, thou vnnecessary Letter. ["King Lear," II.ii.69]
Series of zs to represent a buzzing sound first attested 1852; zees "spell of sleep, a nap" is slang first recorded 1963, American English student slang.

zeta

Greek letter, see zed.

z in Medicine

zeta ze·ta (zā'tə, zē'-)
n.

Symbol ζ The sixth letter of the Greek alphabet.

Slang definitions & phrases for z

Z 1

noun

Some sleep; a nap: If he wants a few zees we can go on automatic

verb

To sleep; snooze; cop zs: Gotta Z a little while

[1960s+; fr the conventional sibilant or buzzing sound attributed to a sleeping or snoring person]


Z 2

noun

An ounce of a narcotic: trips to the rundown neighborhood to purchase Zs (ounces) and even Ks (kilograms) of cocaine

[1960s+ Narcotics; fr the conventional abbreviation of ounce, ''oz'']


z in Technology

/zed/ 1. (After Zermelo-Fränkel set theory) A specification language developed by the Programming Research Group at Oxford University around 1980. Z is used for describing and modelling computing systems. It is based on axiomatic set theory and first order predicate logic. Z is written using many non-ASCII symbols. It was used in the IBM CICS project.
See also Z++.
["Understanding Z", J.M. Spivey, Cambridge U Press 1988].
2. A stack-based, complex arithmetic simulation language from ZOLA Technologies.
(1995-08-11)
Related Abbreviations for z

Z

  1. atomic number
  2. impedance
  3. zenith distance

z.

  1. zero
  2. zone

ZETA

zero energy thermonuclear assembly

Z's

sleep
Idioms and Phrases with z

z

see: from soup to nuts (a to z)