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ze·bra

(zēbrə)

1. Any of several swift African mammals of the genus Equus, resembling the horse and having distinctive overall markings of alternating white and black or brown stripes.

2. Any of various striped organisms, such as a zebrafish.

3. A referee in football.

[Italian, from Portuguese zevra, from Old Portuguese zevro, zevra, wild ass, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *eciferus, alteration of Latin equiferus, a kind of wild horse : equus, horse; see EQUINE + ferus, wild; see FERAL. Sense 3, from the referee's striped shirt.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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