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zebra


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Definition of zebra

noun

  • 1an African wild horse with black-and-white stripes and an erect mane.
    • Genus Equus, family Equidae: three species, in particular the common zebra (E. burchellii)
  • 2a large butterfly with pale stripes on a dark background, in particular:
    • a yellow and black American butterfly (Heliconius charitonius, subfamily Heliconiinae, family Nymphalidae). (also Malayan zebra) a black and white Asian butterfly(Graphium delesserti, family Papilionidae).
  • 3 (also zebra fish) South African a silvery-gold sea bream with vertical black stripes.
    • Diplodus cervinus, family Sparidae

Origin:

early 17th century: from Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese, originally in the sense 'wild ass', perhaps ultimately from Latin equiferus, from equus 'horse' + ferus 'wild'

zebra in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of zebra in the US English dictionary