▪ I. zed
Also 5–6 zedde.
[a. F. zède (= It. zeta, † zette, Sp. zeta, zeda), ad. L. zēta, a. Gr. ζῆτα.]
1. Name of the letter Z.
In quot. 1605 applied contemptuously to a person.
| 14.. MS. Reg. 17, B. 1, f. 14 b in Mod. Lang. Rev. (1911) VI. 442 For as miche as þe carect yogh, þat is to seie ·ȝ· is figurid lijk a zed, þerfore alle þe wordis of þis table þat biginnen wiþ þat carect, ben set in zed, which is þe laste lettre of þea·b·c. 14.. Mandeville (MS. Laud 699 f. 37) Too lettres..þat is to sey ·y· [i.e. þ] & ·z· which is called thorn and zedde. 1582 Mulcaster 1st Pt. Elem. xxiii. 161 Hence cummeth it that so manie zeds in our tung are herd, and so few sene, for dexteritie and spede in the currantnesse of writing. 1605 Shakes. Lear ii. ii. 69 Thou whoreson Zed, thou vnnecessary letter. 1755 Johnson Dict., Gram., Z..[Name] zed, more commonly izzard or uzzard, that is, shard. 1817 Err. Pron. Lond. 38 Children..often call this letter Izard... They should be taught to pronounce it Zed. 1882 E. A. Freeman in Longman's Mag. I. 94 The name..given to the last letter of the alphabet..in New England is always zee; in the South it is zed. 1893 [see Z 2]. |
2. zed-bar, also simply zed = Z-bar: see Z 2.
| a 1891 Engineer LXXI. Advts. p. xxxviii. (Cent. Dict.), Angles, Zeds, Channels, Beams, Bars. 1892 Daily News 9 Sept. 6/1 The improved sections of steel known as channel and zed bars. |
▸ zed-bed n. Brit. = Z-bed n. at Z n. Additions
| 1954 Trade Marks Jrnl. 28 July 761/1 Steelux *zedbed... Beds made wholly or principally of metal. 1970 Kay's Catal. Autumn–Winter 654/2 Double zedbed,..size 6 ft. 2 ins. × 3 ft. 10 ins. wide. 2003 Cabinet Maker (Nexis) 21 Mar. 12 The zed-bed has been superseded by the sofabed and the futon because they double up as functional bits of furniture. |
▪ II. zed(e
see sad a., say v.1, seed.