Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

zee

/ˈzeɪː/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.16 in modern English

Syllables: zee
IPA: /ˈzeɪː/

12

Scrabble Score

3

Letters

1

Syllables

2

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The name of the Latin script letter Z/z.

noun

Something Z-shaped. Found in compounds.

noun

Colloquial

verb

To sleep or nap. (Compare zzz, catch some z's.)

American usage; Informal; Intransitive verb

verb

To zigzag; to move with sharp alternating turns.

American usage; Intransitive verb

article

Pronunciation spelling of the, representing primarily French or German accented English.

American usage

name

name

Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Derogatory

Example Sentences

"Thus first C checks to see if ex and wye are equal. The resulting value of 1 or 0 (true or false) then is compared to the value of zee."
"zee-bar."
"Time to get some zees."

Etymology

Likely an alteration of zed (which see for more), by analogy with other letters such as bee, dee, tee and vee. Fell out of usage in England by the 17th century, and made standard in the U.S. in American Dictionary of English Language by Noah Webster in 1828, though usage varied for decades afterwards.

Word Breakdown

Root: -

Usage

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in People.

Inflected Forms

zees (plural) zees (present, singular) zeeing (participle, present) zeed (participle, past) zeed (past)

Derived Forms

ohzee ozee

Phrases

A to Zee oh zee oh-zee o-zee zee bar

Frequently Paired Words

zeta

Synonyms

Ze Zelly zed izzard uzzard z ezed

Rhymes With

be he we me she see three free de tv key sea

Questions

How do you pronounce zee?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈzeɪː/.
What does zee mean?: The name of the Latin script letter Z/z.
Where does zee come from?: Likely an alteration of zed (which see for more), by analogy with other letters such as bee, dee, tee and vee. Fell out of usage in England by the 17th century, and made standard in the U.S. in American Dictionary of English Language by Noah Webster in 1828, though usage varied for decades afterwards.

How to pronounce zee

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “zee”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈzeɪː/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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