# Zaire

> English word · Proper noun · IPA /zaɪˈɪə/ · frequency rank #33,494

## Definitions
1. Former name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: a country in Central Africa; used from 1971–1997.
2. Synonym of Congo (major river in Central Africa)
3. A province of Angola, named after the river

## Etymology
Truncation of Kongo nzadi o nzere (“river swallowing rivers”) which refers to the Congo river; adopted in accordance with the Authenticity Movement.

## Easily confused with
- **Zara** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zaire-vs-zara)
- **Zane** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zaire-vs-zane)
- **zine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zaire-vs-zine)
- **zain** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zain-vs-zaire)
- **Zahra** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zahra-vs-zaire)
- **Zagreb** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zagreb-vs-zaire)

## Common misspellings (6)
`azire`, `zaier`, `zairre`, `zarie`, `ziare`, `zzaire`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/zaire