Z or z /zed/

1. The twenty-sixth and last letter in the modern English alphabet, twenty-third in the Roman, derived through the Greek zeta (Ζ, ζ), from zayin, the seventh letter of the Semitic alphabet
2. Anything shaped like the letter Z, as in Zˈ-bend a series of sharp bends in a road

—Z is sounded as a voiced sibilant, either a voiced s, as in ‘zeal’, or a voiced sh, as in ‘azure’. It is used in Scots to represent ME Ȝ (the letter yogh), as in capercailzie, but now sometimes pronounced as a z, as in the English pronunciation of the Scottish family name Menzies /menˈziz/ (as opposed to the Scottish /mingˈiz/)

zˈ-axis noun (mathematics)

In a three-dimensional graph, the vertical axis at right angles to the x-axis and y-axis, along which the z-coordinate is plotted

Z boson same as Z particle below.

Zˈ-DNA noun

A form of duplex DNA, in which purines and pyrimidines alternate in a strand, resulting in a left-handed helix

Zˈ-list adjective (informal)

Belonging to the least important or famous group (of would-be celebrities, etc)

Zˈ-lister noun

Z particle noun (physics)

A subatomic particle that mediates weak interaction

Z or Z.

1. Zambia (IVR)
2. Zetta-

Z

1. (as a medieval Roman numeral) 2000
2. (also z or z) the third variable, unknown or yet to be ascertained quantity or factor in a series, after X and Y (or x, y or x, y) (mathematics, etc)

Z

1. Atomic number (chem)
2. Impedance (physics)

Z̄

(medieval Roman numeral) 2000000

• portholes
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• portico
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• portier
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• portigue
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• portland