| zabaglione. | Egg yolks, sugar, and wine beaten until think and served hot or cold. |
| zaffer. | Impure cobalt oxide used to produce blue enamel and to make smalt (deep blue paint and pigment made by pulverizing glass, cobalt oxide, and. ). |
| zaffig. | 1. Full-bosomed. 2. Ample figure (Yiddish). |
| Zagreus. | Son of Zeus and Persephone who was slain by the Titans and returned as Dionysius. |
| zaibatsu. | A powerful, family-controlled Japanese combine. |
| zaikal. | The commercial and financial community of Japan. |
| zaire. | Zaire currency. |
| zamia. | Cycads having thick, mostly underground trunk and palmy leaves. |
| zamindar. | 1. An official in pre-colonial India assigned to collect land taxes for his district. 2. A native landholder in British colonial India responsible for collecting and paying to the government taxes on the land under his jurisdiction. |
| Zapata mustache. | Curves down at the ends. |
| zapatedeo. | 1. Heel-stamping in Spanish flamenco. 2. Heel-stamping flamenco. |
| Zapotec. | Languages in southern Mexico. |
| zareba. | 1. An enclosure of bushes or stakes protecting a campsite in N. W. Africa.2. A campsite or village so protected. |
| zarf. | A chalice-like holder for hot coffee, typically made of ornamented metal (middle East). |
| zax. | Hatchet-like tool for cutting and dressing roofing slates. |
| zazen. | Zen meditation. |
| zebu. | domesticated humped Asiatic bovine with large dewlap. |
| zecchino. | A sequin. |
| zedoary. | Dried rhizome of curcuma. |
| zein. | Corn protein used in plastics, coatings and lacquers. |
| zec. | Soviet labor camp inmate. |
| zemstvo. | Elected local administrative council in Czarist Russia. |
| zenana. | Part of the house in India and Pakistan reserved for the women. |
| Zend-Avesta. | Entire body of Zoroastrian sacred writings. |
| Zethus. | Amphion's twin brother. |
| zeugma. | Construction in which a word is used to govern two or more words, often so that its use is grammatically correct with only one of them. |
| zibeline. | Thick, lustrous fabric of wool and other animal hair. Has a silky nap. |
| zibet. | A civet cat. |
| zill. | One of a pair of metal cymbals attached to the fingers. Belly-dancing. |
| zingy. | 1. Pleasantly stimulating. 2. A zingy gown. |
| zizith. | The tassels of thread on the four corners of Jewish prayer gowns. |
| zoisite. | Gray, brown, or pink, used in ornamental stonework. |
| zoochore. | Plant dispersed by animals. |
| zooglea. | Bacteria that form gelatinous colonies. |
| zooid. | 1. A cell having independent movement within a living organism, such as a spermatozoan. 2.. A microscopic colony animal. |
| zoomorphisn. | 1. Attribution of animal qualities to a god. 2. Use of animal forms in symbolism, literature, or graphic representation. |
| zoon. | Sea anemone or sponge that remains attached to a surface and superficially resembles a plant. |
| zoonosis. | A disease such as malaria or rabies that can be transmitted to man. |
| zooplasty. | Surgical transfer of tissue from an animal to man. |
| zoosperm. | A spermatozoan. |
| zoospore. | A mobile, flagellated, asexual spore. |
| zootechnics. | Breeding technology. |
| zori. | Flat straw or leather sandal. |
| zorille. | African mammal resembling the skunk. |
| zoster. | 1. Belt or girdle. 2. Herpes zoster |
| Zouave. | 1. French Algerian infantry unit. Colorful uniforms, precision drilling. 2. Civil War copy. |
| zucchetto. | Catholic skullcap, like a biretta. |
| zwitterion. | An ion carrying both a positive and a negative charge. |
| zydeco. | Cajun music combining elements of French dance music, Caribbean music, and the blues. Played on a washboard, a guitar, and an accordion. |
| zygaphosis. | One of two usually paired processes of a vertebrate that articulate with corresponding parts of adjacent vertebrae. |
| zygodactyl. | Having two toes projecting forward and two toes projecting backward. A zygodactyl bird. |
| zygoma. | 1. A zygomatic bone. 2. The zygomatic arch. 3. The zygomatic process. |
| zygomatic bon | e.A small quadrangular bone forming part of the orbit and part of the zygomatic arch. |
| zygomatic arch. | The bony arch that extends along the side of front of the skull beneath the orbit. |
| zygomatic process. | Any of the three processes that articulate to make up the zygomatic arch. |
| zygomorphic. | Bilaterally symmetric. |
| zymogen. | The inactive protein precursor of an enzyme. |
| zyzzyva. | Tropical weevil. |