Nonstandard spelling of the(usually signifying a foreign accent, often French or German).
1992, Tristan Jones, Adrift, page 257:
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!"
Etymology 2
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /zi/
Pronoun
ze
(rare, nonstandard)a Gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun, equivalent to singular they, and coordinate with gendered pronouns he and she.
Usage notes
The genderqueer community are the primary proponents of ze. One refers to a person with ze and hir or zir typically (a) when their gender is unknown, and one wishes to avoid assuming their gender, or (b) when they are neither male nor female in gender, making he and she (and also either/or terms like s/he or (s)he) inappropriate and potentially hurtful.
Synonyms
see Appendix:English third-person singular pronouns
Coordinate terms
hir, hirs, hirself
zir, zirs, zirself
See also
other attested and proposed gender-neutral pronouns
(Latin-script letter names) a, be, ze, de, e, efe, ge, hatxe, i, jota, ka, ele, eme, ene, eñe, o, pe, ku, erre, ese, te, u, uve, uve bikoitz, ixa, i greko, zeta
Cimbrian
Etymology 1
From Middle High Germansi(e)(“they”), merged from Old High Germansiem pl, siof pl, siun pl, from Proto-Germanic*īzm, *ijôzf, *ijōn, the nominative plural forms of *iz. Cognate with Germansie, Dutchzij.
Pronoun
ze
(Sette Comuni) they
Synonym:zandare
Alternative forms
se (Luserna)
zòi
Inflection
Etymology 2
Pronoun
ze
Alternative form of zi(“she”)
References
“ze” in Martalar, Umberto Martello; Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo
Czech
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /zɛ/
Preposition
ze
from
Usage notes
This preposition is followed by the genitive case.
Synonyms
z
Further reading
ze in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
ze in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
Dutch
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /zə/
Hyphenation: ze
Rhymes: -ə
Pronoun
ze
Unstressed form of zij (feminine singular subject)
Unstressed form of zij (plural subject)
Unstressed form of haar (feminine singular object)
Unstressed form of hen, hun (plural object)
Usage notes
In the Netherlands, ze is used as a reduced form of haar chiefly when referring to feminine inanimate things:
It is often avoided by using the reduced form h'r or the masculine form hem or the neuter form het or, in formal style, the full form haar.
In Belgium, ze is usual as a reduced form of haar even when referring to persons (as in the example further above).
Ze is used in certain short and idiomatic phrases in the imperative wishing one good luck, the most common by far being werk ze(“good luck at work!”).
Inflection
Derived terms
werk ze
Haitian Creole
Etymology
From Frenchœufs(“eggs”). In French, the plural word œufs is commonly preceded by a word, such as aux, les or mes, whose final s or x is not pronounced except before vowels, where it is pronounced /z/. As a result, œufs was reanalyzed as beginning with /z/.
Noun
ze
egg
Ido
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ze/, /zɛ/
Noun
ze (pluralze-i)
The name of the Latin script letter Z/z.
See also
(Latin script letter names) litero; a, be, ce, che, de, e, fe, ge, he, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, pe, que, re, se, she, te, u, ve, we, xe, ye, ze(Category: io:Latin letter names)
Japanese
Romanization
ze
Rōmaji transcription of ぜ
Rōmaji transcription of ゼ
Lower Sorbian
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /zɛ/
Preposition
ze
Alternative form of z(both meanings; used before sibilants and certain consonant clusters)
(lit. ‘brother with sister’).
Luxembourgish
Alternative forms
zu(for the adverb, when stressed)
Etymology
From Middle High Germanze, from Old High Germanzi, from Proto-Germanic*ta, reduced form of *tō, whence Luxembourgishzu and zou.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /tsə/
Preposition
ze
to (with a following infinitive)
De Kaffi ass ze waarm fir ze drénken.
The coffee is too hot to drink.
Adverb
ze
too (more than enough, when unstressed)
De Kaffi ass ze waarm fir ze drénken.
The coffee is too hot to drink.
Mandarin
Romanization
ze
Nonstandard spelling of zé.
Nonstandard spelling of zè.
Usage notes
English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.
Middle English
Etymology
From Old Englishsǣ.
Noun
ze
Alternative form of see(“sea”)
Descendants
English: sea
Polish
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /zɛ/
Preposition
ze
Alternative form of z.
Particle
ze
(colloquial)Alternative form of z.
Usage notes
See z.
Further reading
ze in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
ze in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Saterland Frisian
Etymology
From Old Frisian [Term?], from Proto-West Germanic*sī. Cognates include West Frisiansy and Germansie.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /zə/
Pronoun
ze
unstressed form of ju(“she”)
unstressed form of jo(“they”)
See also
References
“ze” in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch
Turkish
Noun
ze (definite accusativezeyi, pluralzeler)
The name of the Latin-script letter Z.
See also
(Latin-script letter names)harf; a, be, ce, çe, de, e, fe, ge, yumuşak ge, he, ı, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, ö, pe, re, se, şe, te, u, ü, ve, ye, ze
Turkmen
Noun
ze (definite accusative?, plural?)
The name of the Latin-script letter Z.
White Hmong
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ʐe˧/
Adjective
ze
near
Xhosa
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Relative
-ze?
naked
Synonym:-ntswempu
Inflection
Yola
Alternative forms
zey, sau, zie
Verb
ze
see
Zazaki
Adverb
ze
same
Zulu
Etymology 1
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /zé/
Relative
-zé
empty
naked
Inflection
Derived terms
ize
ubuze
Etymology 2
From -za(“to come”).
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ze/
Verb
-ze
(auxiliary, in positive) until [+subjunctive]
Sizolinda baze bafike.
We will wait until they arrive.
Sakhuluma waze wafika uthisha.
We talked until the teacher arrived.
(auxiliary, in positive, past)used in exclamations [+subjunctive]
Waze wamuhle umakoti!
Oh how beautiful the bride is!
(auxiliary, in negative, present) never [+potential]
Angize ngingadla inyama.
I never eat meat.
(auxiliary, in negative, past) never [+subjunctive]
Akazange agibele ihhashi.
He has never ridden a horse.
Inflection
This verb needs an inflection-table template.
References
C. M. Doke; B. W. Vilakazi (1972) , “-ze”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “-ze”