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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

ze en · DET · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • /zʌ/
  • /ziː/
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /zə/ (unstressed)

Meanings

  1. (alt-of, nonstandard) Nonstandard spelling of the, usually signifying a foreign accent, often French or German.
    alt of the
    • At ze Palace of Beauxbatons, we ’ave ice sculptures all around ze Dining Chamber at Chreetsmas. Zey do not melt, of course … zey are like ’uge statues of diamond, glittering around ze place. 2000 July 8, J. K. Rowling [pseudonym; Joanne Rowling], “The Yule Ball”, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter; 4), London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 364:
    • Then one French-American sous-chef, still in his white kitchen gear, climbed down from the cockpit, where he had been inspecting the cabin, peering inside, murmuring, "wonderfool–wonderfool, ze workmansheep!" 1992, Tristan Jones, Adrift, page 257:

Synonyms

za

Source: en.wiktionary, “ze” (article), dump 20260902, contributors via the page history. Text licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

ze en · PRON · etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • /ziː/

Etymology

Possibly from Dutch zij.

Meanings

  1. (nonstandard, rare) a gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun, equivalent to singular they, and coordinate with gendered pronouns he and she.
    • But I do know what sex ze is. It used to influence me. But now I talk to hir like a normal person. I mean, without thinking about what ze is. 1996 June, Caitlin Sullivan with Bornstein, Kate, Nearly Roadkill: an Infobahn erotic adventure, New York: Serpent's Tail, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, LCC PS3569.U3449 N43 1996, page 10:
    • Ze changed hir name to one of those New Testament names, and re-fashioned hirself into a soft, puffy, half-finished hermaphrodite nicknamed, The Pop n' Fresh Doe. 2010 October 12, Erika Lopez, The Girl Must Die: A Monster Girl Memoir, Hicken, Jeffrey, San Francisco: Monster Girl Media, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 143:
    • Hir face was implacable, but ze dashed away in tears. 2011 March 15, M. J. Locke, Up Against It, New York: Tor, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, LCC PS3612.O249 U7 2011, page 361:
    • Ze takes my right hand in hirs and folds it into a fist. 2006 March 22, Leslie Feinberg, Drag King Dreams, New York: Carroll & Graf, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, LCC PS3556.E427 D73 2006, page 205:
    • A case in point is Tula, a transgendered woman who for years lived well as a model and actress until ze was outed in both national and international media. 1997 December 18, Kate Bornstein, My Gender Workbook: How to Become a Real Man, a Real Woman, the Real You, or Something Else Entirely, London, New York: Routledge, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, LCC HQ1075.B69 1998, page 130:

Coordinates

hir · zirself · hirs · zirs · hirself · zir

Relateds

other attested gender-neutral pronouns

Source: en.wiktionary, “ze” (pron), dump 20260902, contributors via the page history. Text licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

ze en · NOUN · etymology 3

Meanings

  1. The name of the Cyrillic script letter З / з.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
zes Number=Plur lexicographic