the twenty-sixth and last letter of the English and other modern alphabets, derives its form, through the medium of the Latin and Greek alphabets, from the Phœnician and ancient Hebrew ??? (Hebrew ז zayin); in the Phœnician, Greek, and earlier Roman alphabets it was the seventh letter, in the later Roman alphabet the twenty-third. Greek Ζ ζ seems to have had originally the phonetic value /zd/ or /dz/, but later simple /z/. Instances of z are found in early Latin, but Greek ζ was more commonly represented initially by s, e.g. sōna (Plautus) = ζώνη, and medially by ss, e.g. cōmissor = κωμάζω, massa = μᾶζα mass n.², but after b.c. 100 z came into regular use to render the ζ of Greek loanwords. In consequence of the phonetic change of /dz/ to /dj/ exemplified by the spelling baptidiare for baptizare, Greek βαπτίζειν to baptize, z in popular Latin came to denote /dj/ and probably /j/, as in zaconus for diaconus deacon, zeta for dieta (see zeta n.²), zunior for junior (cf. the spellings Zopen, Zope in Cursor Mundi for Joppa). For the use of z for initial x see X n. Z was used in Old English in the spelling of alien words, and (with or without t or d) in certain loanwords, as bæ(d)zere (Latin baptista + -ere -er suffix¹) baptist, mertze (Latin mercem, merx), with the value (ts); this use was continued in Middle English, e.g. mildze, milz(c)e, milce n., and was reinforced by French usage, as shown in forms like caliz chalice, croiz cross, voiz voice, vestimenz, plural of vestiment. This phonetic value is preserved in, and indicated by the spelling of, modern English assets (Anglo-Norman asetz, Old French asez enough, popular Latin ad-satis) and the patronymic prefix Fitz- (Anglo-Norman fiz = fius, fils n.¹ Latin fīlius).In French, the reduction of /ts/ to /s/ brought about a change of spelling from z to s (often alternating with x, e.g. vois, voix), and this helped to set free z to denote the voiced s appropriate to such ‘learned’ adoptions as zone (which appears as early as the 12th cent., Ph. de Thaun). In English, by the end of the 13th cent., z is found with the later Old French value /z/ in ‘learned’ words, e.g. zizanny tares (Cursor Mundi 1138); it is conspicuous in the Ayenbite of Inwyt (c1340) as the symbol for the voiced s characteristic of southern dialects (e.g. Kentish zenne, Old English synn sin); by the end of the 14th cent. the character had become general, e.g. gaze, mazed, canonize.In MSS. of 1300 onwards the tailed z and ȝ came to be indistinguishable in form (cf. first quot. s.v. zed n.); hence in modern editions are found many instances of spellings such as ȝelot zealot, Sarȝine Saracen. This identity of the two symbols was perpetuated in the typography of early Scottish printers, who represented the sounds /j/ and /z/ by the same characters, as in such words as ze ye, zeir year, forzet forget, fenzeit feigned, and azure, zele zeal. This confusion has led to the general mispronunciation by Englishmen of capercailzie /-ˈkeːlji/, corruptly /-ˈkeɪlzɪ/, and proper names such as Cadzow, Dalziel, Mackenzie, Menzies /ˈmiŋɪs/.The name given to the letter in England (presumably since the Norman Conquest) has been zed n. or one of its variants, †zad n., †zard, izzard n., ezod, uzzard. With the disyllabic forms, which survive dialectally, cf. French edez, ? for ezed (Coyfurelly, 14th cent.), ézed (Claude de Saint-Lien, 1580), Prov. izedo, Catalan idzeta, apparently from popular Latin *idzēta, < Greek ζῆτα /ˈdzɛːta/. The names ez (Gil, Logonomia Anglica, 1619) and ze (C. Butler, Eng. Gram., 1633) do not seem to represent actual usage, but are (like ya and yi as names of y) systematic inventions of these phonetic writers. The name zee n., now standard in the United States of America, appears to have had some early currency in England.Initially and medially z occurs largely in words of Greek or Oriental origin, e.g. zeal, azimuth, Amazon, zenith; and in this Dictionary the spelling of the suffix derived ultimately from Greek -ίζειν has been normalized throughout as -ize suffix. In other classes of words the use of z has been determined by various circumstances, e.g. the immediate source of the word, as in bronze, or the desirability of an unambiguous or distinctive spelling, as in ooze (cf. loose), prize (cf. price). It is found in a number of monosyllabic words (and their derivatives), as craze, daze, laze, maze, doze, gloze, gauze, furze, blowze, size, assize, seize, freeze, wheeze.One fact which has told against an extensive use of it instead of s to represent the sound /z/ is the difficulty of writing the character rapidly and intelligibly; this is referred to by Mulcaster, 1st Part of Elementarie, 1582, p. 123:—Z, is a consonant much heard amongst vs, and seldom sene. I think by reason it is not so redie to the pen as s, is, which is become lieutenant generall to z, as gàse, amàse, ràsur, where z, is heard, but, s, sene.It is remarkable that in the three words cited by him the ultimate decision has been in favour of the spelling with z. In certain words usage fluctuated even in modern times until s or z prevailed, as in tease and †teaze, pose and †poze, surprise and †surprize; rase and raze are specifically differentiated.Z is normally employed to denote /z/, the blade-open-voice consonant, the voiced analogue of /s/. In the combination -zure in azure it denotes /ʒ/, a sound commonly denoted by other means, as in pleasure, decision, lesion, transition.

I1. See also Z band n. at Z line n. Derivatives, Z line n.

I2. In combinations containing the abbreviation Z followed by a word.