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za

1 American  
[zah] / zɑ /

noun

Slang.

  1. pizza.

zā 2 American  
[zah] / zɑ /

noun

  1. the 11th letter of the Arabic alphabet.

ẓā 3 American  
[zah] / zɑ /

noun

  1. the 17th letter of the Arabic alphabet.

ZA 1 British  

abbreviation

  1. South Africa (international car registration)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
za 2 British  

abbreviation

  1. South Africa

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of za1

An Americanism dating back to 1965–70; by shortening and alteration

Origin of zā2

< Arabic zā ( y )

Origin of ẓā3

From Arabic

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The shirts draped on the seats said Hvala za vse — “Thanks for everything” in Slovenian.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2025

Scrabble annoys me; I can’t trust a game in which a well-played za scores more points than, well, abbacy.

From Slate • Feb. 19, 2020

Actual Needs: A large Papa John's za for Jer-Bear, because he's been a little hangry of late.

From Golf Digest • Apr. 25, 2018

It's name is AstraZeneca and it is often abbreviated "AZ" ... so the drug reversed the letters to "za".

From New York Times • Jan. 15, 2015

“I didn’t know about no snakes, I swear—” “Iss miracle za dogs zey all okay. Pookie Face, za snake came after him zis close!”

From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.