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.

island off East Africa, from Zengi, name of a local people, said to mean "black," + Arabic barr "coast, shore." Related: Zanzibari.

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.

"holder for a coffee cup," 1836, from Arabic zarf "vessel."

"passionate ardor in pursuit of an objective or course of action," late 14c., from Old French zel (Modern French zèle) and directly from Late Latin zelus "zeal, emulation" (source also of Italian zelo, Spanish celo), a Church word, from Greek zēlos "ardor, eager rivalry, emulation," "a noble passion" [Liddell & Scott], but also "jealousy;" from PIE *ya- "to seek, request, desire." From mid-15c. as "devotion."

early 14c., "member of a militant 1st century Jewish sect which fiercely resisted the Romans in Palestine," from Late Latin zelotes, from Greek zēlōtēs "one who is a zealous follower," from zēloōn "to be zealous," from zēlos "zeal" (see zeal). Extended sense of "a fanatical enthusiast" first recorded 1630s (earlier in this sense was zelator, mid-15c.).

"excessive or undue zeal, fanaticism," 1650s, from zealot + -ry.