zebra

IPA/ˈzebrə/
KK[zˈibrə]IPA/ˈziːbrə/

zebra — noun

  • zebrasingular
  • zebrasplural

1. a large African mammal with a black-and-white striped coat. It lives in wild her

1.nounA2
Definition

a large African mammal with a black-and-white striped coat. It lives in wild herds across the grasslands of Africa and is a close relative of the horse and donkey.

Example

The children at the zoo clapped when the zebra walked past their group.

Selim took a photo of the zebra as it drank from the river.

Common collocations
  • herd of zebra
  • zebra stripes
  • plains zebra
  • zebra foal
  • mountain zebra
  • Grevy's zebra
Synonyms
  • Equus quagga

    the scientific name for the plains zebra; very formal and not used in everyday speech

Usage Note

The plural can be either 'zebras' or 'zebra' (e.g. 'a herd of zebra'). Zebras are wild animals from Africa and are not the same as horses, although they belong to the same family.

Common Mistakes

I saw a zebra horse at the safari park.
I saw a zebra at the safari park.
Zebras are a separate kind of animal, not a type of horse, so you should not add 'horse' after 'zebra'.
The zebra crossing the street was beautiful.
The zebra crossed the road in the national park.
A 'zebra crossing' is a pedestrian walkway marked with white stripes on the road; to talk about the animal, do not use 'crossing' after 'zebra'.

Word family

  • zebrine
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Zebras, horses, donkeys, and ponies all belong to the equine (horse) family, but they differ in appearance, behaviour, and habitat. Zebras are the only ones with black-and-white stripes and are native to Africa. Horses are larger, have a flowing mane and tail, and have been domesticated for thousands of years. Donkeys are smaller than horses, have long ears, and are also domesticated. Ponies are simply small horses, usually under 147 cm tall. While horses and donkeys can be tamed and ridden, zebras have remained wild and are much harder to train. For example, a farmer might keep a donkey for carrying loads, but you would only see a zebra in a wildlife reserve or zoo.

zebra ↗horse ↗donkey ↗pony ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • herd of zebra
  • zebra crossing

Prepositions

  • of zebra

Etymology

PortugueseLatinEnglish

The word 'zebra' entered English from Italian or Portuguese during the 16th century. It originally referred to the wild horses of Africa. The Portuguese term came from Old Portuguese 'zevra', which traces back to the Latin word 'equiferus' meaning 'wild horse' (from 'equus' meaning 'horse' and 'ferus' meaning 'wild').