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• zebra
  zebra

  noun

  any of several horselike African mammals of the genus Equus, each species having a characteristic pattern of black or dark-brown stripes on a whitish background: all zebra species are threatened or endangered.
• Zebra
  Zebra

  noun

  a noninterest-paying bond in which the accrued income is taxed annually rather than on redemption Compare zero

zebra

American  

[zee-bruh, zeb-ruh] / ˈzi brə, ˈzɛb rə /

noun

plural

zebras,

plural

zebra

1. any of several horselike African mammals of the genus Equus, each species having a characteristic pattern of black or dark-brown stripes on a whitish background: all zebra species are threatened or endangered.

2. Also called zebra butterfly.  a tropical butterfly, Heliconius charithonius, having black wings barred with yellow.

3. (initial capital letter) a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter Z.

4. Football Slang. an official, who usually wears a black and white striped shirt.

5. British. zebra crossing.

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Zebra ¹ British  

/ ˈzɛbrə, ˈziːbrə /

noun

1. a noninterest-paying bond in which the accrued income is taxed annually rather than on redemption Compare zero

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zebra ² British  

/ ˈzɛb-, ˈziːbraɪn, ˈzɛbrə, zɪˈbreɪɪk, ˈziːbrə /

noun

1. any of several mammals of the horse family ( Equidae ), such as Equus burchelli (the common zebra ), of southern and eastern Africa, having distinctive black-and-white striped hides

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Other Word Forms

• zebra-like
  adjective
• zebraic
  adjective
• zebralike
  adjective
• zebrine
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of zebra

1590–1600; 1975–80 zebra for def. 4; < Portuguese zebra, zebro the Iberian wild ass ( Spanish cebra ), perhaps < Latin equiferus (Pliny) kind of wild horse, equivalent to equi- (combining form of equus horse) + ferus wild

Explanation

That black-and-white striped animal that looks like a horse? That's a zebra, a large African animal with hooves that you're most likely to see in a zoo. Like donkeys and horses, zebras are members of the family Equidae, or the horse family. Unlike the horses, however, zebras haven't ever truly been domesticated — so don't count on fulfilling your dream of riding a zebra. Zebra comes from Italian, ultimately going back to the Latin root equiferus, "wild horse." In the U.S., the first syllable of zebra is pronounced "zee," but in the U.K., it has a short e sound, like "tepid" or "web."

Example Sentences

Online comparison tools like the Zebra or Jerry allow you to compare premiums from different insurance companies based on information about the car and your personal driving history.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 4, 2026

A few relatively smaller market capitalization software names that appeared were CoreWeave, HubSpot, Workday, DataDog, GoDaddy, and Zebra Technologies.

From Barron's • Jan. 20, 2026

According to Zebra Technologies, which partners with the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Dobbins reached 19.92 mph on the field Sunday.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 11, 2024

Zebra finches had the same but larger receptive fields, suggesting these regions in finches are not quite as sensitive and probably of greater relevance to hummingbirds that rely on constant, steady precision flight.

From Science Daily • May 29, 2024

Now he realized that the first link in that chain, the Zebra Room, was a weak one, and he was thrown into doubt and confusion.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides