zebra

/ˈzibrə/

/ˈzɛbrə/

Other forms: zebras

That black-and-white striped animal that looks like a horse? That's a zebra, a large African animal with hooves that you're most likely to see in a zoo.

Like donkeys and horses, zebras are members of the family Equidae, or the horse family. Unlike the horses, however, zebras haven't ever truly been domesticated — so don't count on fulfilling your dream of riding a zebra. Zebra comes from Italian, ultimately going back to the Latin root equiferus, "wild horse." In the U.S., the first syllable of zebra is pronounced "zee," but in the U.K., it has a short e sound, like "tepid" or "web."

Definitions of zebra

1. noun

   any of several fleet black-and-white striped African equines
   types:

   Burchell's zebra, Equus Burchelli, common zebra

   of the plains of central and eastern Africa

   Equus zebra zebra, mountain zebra

   narrow-striped nearly extinct zebra of southern Africa

   Equus grevyi, grevy's zebra

   zebra with less continuous stripes

   type of:

   equid, equine

   hoofed mammals having slender legs and a flat coat with a narrow mane along the back of the neck