# zebra

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈzɛbɹə/ · frequency rank #17,279

## Definitions
1. Any of three species of subgenus Hippotigris: Equus grevyi, Equus quagga, or Equus zebra, all with black and white stripes and native to Africa.
2. A referee.
3. An unlikely diagnosis, especially for symptoms probably caused by a common ailment.
4. Someone who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or hypermobility spectrum disorder
5. A biracial person, specifically one born to a Sub-Saharan African person and a white person.
6. A zebra cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata).
7. Any of various papilionid butterflies of the subgenus Paranticopsis of the genus Graphium, having black and white markings.
8. A zebra crossing.
9. A fairy chess piece that is moved three squares in one direction and two at right angles to that direction in a single move, leaping over any intervening pieces.

## Etymology
First attested in 1600. Borrowed from Italian zebra, from Portuguese zebra, zebro (“zebra”), from Old Galician-Portuguese enzebro, ezebra, azebra (“wild ass”), from earlier cebrario (882), ezebrario (897), from Vulgar Latin *eciferus, from Latin equiferus (“wild horse”) (Pliny), from equus (“horse”) + ferus (“wild”).
While the word was traditionally pronounced with a long vowel in the first syllable in standard English, during the twentieth century a vowel shift occurred in regions of England, with the shortening of the first vowel. This pronunciation is now used throughout the UK and most Commonwealth nations. The long-vowel pronunciation remains standard in Canadian and American English and is used in the UK only by some older, conservative RP speakers.
(unlikely diagnosis): Originates in the advice often given to medical students, "when you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras".
(referee): In reference to the black and white striped shirts they wear.

## Easily confused with
- **zero** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zebra-vs-zero)
- **zeta** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zebra-vs-zeta)
- **Zelda** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zebra-vs-zelda)
- **Zara** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zara-vs-zebra)
- **Zahra** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zahra-vs-zebra)

## Common misspellings (7)
`ezbra`, `zbera`, `zebar`, `zebbra`, `zebrra`, `zerba`, `zzebra`

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