U.S. student slang shortening of pizza, attested from 1968.

"alluringly plump, curvaceous, buxom," 1937, from Yiddish zaftik, literally "juicy," from zaft "juice," from Middle High German saft "juice" (see sap (n.1)).

1793, from zig-zag (q.v.).

1937, from Japanese zaibatsu, from zai "wealth" + batzu "clique."

obligatory Islamic tax for religious purposes, 1802, from Persian zakat, etc., from Arabic zakah.

1610s, from zany (n.). Related: Zanily; zaniness.

comic performer, 1580s, from French zani, from Italian zani, zanni "a zany, clown," originally Zanni, Venetian dialect variant of Gianni, pet form of Giovanni "John;" thus equivalent to English Jack. A stock character in old comedies, he aped the principal actors.

1929 as a sound, 1942 as a verb; a comic strip word (especially from "Buck Rogers in the Twenty-Fifth Century"), of imitative origin. Meaning "erase electronically" is 1982. Related: Zapped; zapping.

electrical pest-killer, 1970, from zap.

from Avestan Zarathushtra (see Zoroastrian). Related: Zarathustrian.