| z.H. | abbreviation of zu Händen (German: for the attention of, care of, c/o) |
| Zhajiao | Chinese curved trumpet |
| Zhaleika | Russian wind instruments with a single reed made of cow horn or wood |
| Zhanggu | (China) hourglass drum |
| Zhangu | (China) shallow barrel drum |
| z.Hd. | abbreviation of zu Händen (German: for the attention of, care of, c/o) |
| Zheng | see guzheng |
| Zhong ruan | see ruan |
| Zhong | (China) bell |
| Zhong-hu | the abbreviated name for the mid-toned er-hu (or 'chinese viola'), the zhong-hu was developed from the er-hu during the 1940s. Although both the structure and performing demands of these two hu-qin are quite similar, zhong-hu has a deeper-sounding timbre, and yet is not as agile, more often used as a tutti or accompanying instrument |
| Zhou | (Chinese, literally 'axis') tuning pegs on a stringed instrument, e.g. a ruan |
| Zhu | (China) box drum |
| Zhuban | from China, two plates of bamboo that are tied together with the convex sides facing each other. The player holds one plate and, when the wrist is rotated, the loose plate strikes against the lower part of the other plate. Or, the player vigorously rotates his wrist to cause the one plate to hit against the top and then the bottom of the other in succession |
| |
| Zhudi | (Chinese, literally 'bamboo flute') a flute with one blowing hole, below which a second hole, covered with a membrane (from bamboo or rushes) gives the instrument its characteristic sound. In addition there are six tone holes |
| |
| Zia | (Italian f.) aunt |
| Zibaldone | (Italian m.) a medley, a collection of notes or reflections |
| Zibellino | (Italian m.) sable (fur) |
| Zibetto | (Italian m.) civet (animal or scent) |
| Ziborium | (German n.) ciborium (Latin) [entry provided by Michael Zapf] |
| zickig | (German) (in music) 'rhythmically wrong' or 'inadequate' when playing of Jazz, especially Swing [entry supplied by Uri Siepe] |
| (German) bitchy, unreliable, moody, unbalanced, obstinate, perverse, old-maidish | |
| Zickzack | (German m.) zigzag |
| Ziege | (German f.) goat |
| Ziegel | (German m.) brick, tile |
| Ziegelstein | (German m.) brick |
| Ziehen | (German n.) ache |
| ziehen | (German) to draw out, to pull, to extract, to raise, to put on (hat), to move, to put up, to stretch, to make, to breed, to grow |
| ziehend | (German) drawing, pulling, tirando, en tirant |
| Ziehharmonica | (German f., literally 'pull-harmonika') accordion, armonica (Italian f.), Akkordeon (German n.), accordéon (French m.), acordeón (Spanish m.) |
| Ziehharmonika | (German f., literally 'pull-harmonika') accordion, armonica (Italian f.), Akkordeon (German n.), accordéon (French m.), acordeón (Spanish m.) |
| Ziehung | (German f.) draw |
| Ziel | (German n.) destination, finish (sport), aim, goal |
| zielbewußt | (German) purposeful, purposefully |
| zielen | (German) to aim |
| zielend | (German) transitive (grammar) |
| ziellos | (German) aimless, aimlessly |
| Zielscheibe | (German f.) target, butt (figurative) |
| zielstrebig | (German) single-minded, single-mindedly |
| ziemlich | (German) rather, somewhat, fair, fairly, pretty well, tolerably, moderately |
| ziemlich bewegt | (German) rather moving |
| ziemlich bewegt und frei in Vortrag | (German) in an animated and free style |
| ziemlich langsam | (German) rather slow, fairly slow, moderately slow |
| ziemlich schnell | (German) rather fast, rather quick |
| Zierde | (German f.) ornament |
| zierden | (German) to adorn |
| zierend | (German) ornando (Italian), adornando (Italian), adorning, schmückend (German), en ornant (French) |
| zierlich | (German) dainty, daintily, delicate, delicately, elegant, neat, graceful, petit (woman) |
| Zierrathen | (German pl.) ornaments |
| Ziffer | (German f.) figure, digit, numeral |
| Zifferblat | (German n.) dial |
| Ziffersystem | (German n.) number system, cipher system (usually a reference to 'numbered musical notation' or jianpu and not to be confused with 'integer notation') |
| zig | (German) umpteen |
| Zigarette | (German f.) cigarette |
| Zigarre | (German f.) cigar |
| Zigeuner (m.), Zigeunerin (f.) | (German) a gypsy |
| zigeunerartig | (German) the gypsy style |
| Zigeunerlied | (German n.) gypsy song |
| Zigeunermoll | (German n., literally 'gypsy minor') Hungarian minor |
| see 'gypsy scale' | |
| Zigeunermoll-Tonleiter | (German f., literally 'gypsy minor scale') Gypsy minor scale, also known as the Hungarian minor |
| Zigeunermusik | (German f.) gypsy music |
| Zigeunerskala | (German f.) resembling the harmonic minor scale, but with an augmented fourth, the 'Gypsy scale' is so named because of its exotic sound. It is also called 'Hungarian minor' because of its use in Hungarian music |
| Zigeunertonleiter | (German f.) resembling the harmonic minor scale, but with an augmented fourth, the 'Gypsy scale', so called because of its exotic sound. It is also known as the 'Hungarian minor' because of its use in Hungarian music |
| Zigeunerweisen | (German f. pl.) gypsy airs |
| Ziggurat | (Assyrian) an Assyrian sacred tower, so constructed that each storey is smaller than the one below and has terraces all round it |
| Ziglibithy | African music style developed in the Ivory Coast in the 1970s. It is a fusion of Ivorian traditional musical styles with rhythms drawn from Congolese traditions |
| Zigomo | (Italian m.) cheek-bone |
| Zigrino | (Italian m.) shagreen (a kind of untanned granulated leather or sharkskin) |
| Zigzag | (Italian m., English) thing having sharp turns (like the shape of the letter Z) |
| zigzaguear | (Spanish) to zigzag |
| Zogomo | (Italian m.) cheek-bone |
| Zograscope | an optical device for enhancing the sense of depth perception from a flat picture. It consists of a large magnifying lens through which the picture is viewed. Some models have the lens mounted on a stand in front of an angled mirror |
| Zil | (Turkish) pairs of small finger cymbals |
| Zilaphone | (Italian) xylophone |
| Zília | Greek term for finger cymbals |
| Zills | (German) finger cymbals |
| Syrian finger cymbals | |
| Zils | (German) Zills |
| Zimarra | (Italian f.) robe, cassock |
| Zimbabwean hip hop | |
| Zimbal | (German n.) sophisticated form of dulcimer (cimbalom) found in Hungary and Romania |
| Zimbalon | (German n.) sophisticated form of dulcimer (cimbalom) found in Hungary and Romania |
| Zimbel | (German f.) cymbal |
| Zimbello | (Italian m.) laughing-stock, decoy, decoy-bird, lure |
| Zimbelstern | (German m.) see Cymbelstern |
| Zimm | after Franklin J. Zimmerman, the cataloguer of music by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) |
| Zimmer | (German n.) room |
| Zimmermädchen | (German n.) chambermaid |
| Zimmermann | (German m.) carpenter |
| Zimmermannsbleistift | (German m.) carpenter's pencil |
| zimmern | (German) to make, to do carpentry |
| Zimmernachweis | (German m.) accommodation bureau |
| Zimmerpflanze | (German f.) house plant |
| zimperlich | (German) squeamish, soft, prudish |
| Zimt | (German m.) cinnamon |
| Zin | (Dutch) (musical) phrase |
| Zinale | (Italian m.) an apron |
| Zinc | (English, French m., Spanish m.) zinco (Italian m.), Zink (German n.), greyish-white metallic element used as a component of brass and in galvanizing sheet iron |
| zincare | (Italian) to cover in zinc, to galvanize |
| Zinck | see zinc |
| Zinco | (Italian m.) zinc (metal), Zink (German n.), zinc (French m.), zinc (Spanish m.) |
| Zincography | the method of producing a lithograph from a zinc plate. The term zincography is also often used incorrectly to describe non-lithographic printing techniques that employ zinc plates |
| Zindalii | an Algerian musical genre, a type of folk music from the city of Constantine |
| Zinfonia | (Italian) sinfonia or symphony |
| Zingaresca | (Italian f.) a song sung or a dance danced by people masked as gypsies during carnival time |
| zingaresco | (Italian) gipsy |
| zingarese, alla | (Italian) in the style of gypsy music [corrected by Lars Hellvig] |
| Zingaro (m.), Zingara (f.), Zingari (pl.) | (Italian) a gypsy |
| zingbaar | (Dutch) cantabile |
| zingen | (Dutch) to sing, to singing, to chant |
| zingende mis | (Dutch) sung Mass |
| zingende zaag | (Dutch) musical saw |
| Zingla | Kosovar Albanian small metallic finger cymbals |
| Zink | (German m.) cornetto |
| (German m.) zinc (metal), zinco (Italian m.), zinc (French m.), zinc (Spanish m.) | |
| Zink-blässer | (German m.) player of the cornetto |
| Zinke (s.), Zinken (pl.) | (German f.) prong, tooth (gear wheel) |
| Zinken | (German m. pl.) the family of cornetti |
| (German m. pl.) in an organ, hollow-toned reed-stops with short resonators, usually of 8ft. pitch | |
| Zinkenist | (German m.) player of the cornetto |
| Zinkspiel | (German n.) cornetto playing |
| Zinn | (German m.) tin, pewter |
| Zinnpfeife | (German f.) tin whistle |
| Zinsen | (German m. pl.) interest |
| Zinsen tragen | (German) to earn interest |
| Zinseszins | (German m.) compound interest |
| Zinsfuß | (German m.) interest rate |
| Zinssatz | (German m.) interest rate |
| Zinzino | (Italian m.) a little bit, a small quantity |
| Zio (s.), Zii (pl.) | (Italian m.) uncle |
| zip | abbreviation of 'zone improvement plan', which forms the basis for US postcodes, also called 'zip codes' |
| Zip code | short for 'zoning improvement plan code', a series of designated numbers added to the address on correspondence in the UNited States of America, to aid in sorting and speed delivery. As mail volume increased and service became less personal, the U.S. Post Office Department found its ability to match address to location ever more difficult. After Germany started coding their mail in 1941 the United States came up with its own two-digit zone number system in May of 1943. It did not take long for this system to become inadequate. A whole new distribution system was then developed based on a five-digit number added to the address. Zip Codes would make use of new sectional mail centres set up only for sorting. The first digit represents a basic geographical area within the United States. The next two digits designate a population centre such as a city or one of the newly created postal sectional centres in more rural areas. The last two digits designate specific small town post offices or postal zones within cities. This system was instituted on July 1st, 1963 and remained voluntary until 1967 when sorting requirements began to be imposed. In 1983 ZIP+4 was introduced adding an additional four numbers onto the ZIP code. The 6th and 7th numbers are a delivery sector, which can be a group of streets, or a single high-rise. And the final two numbers are a delivery segment, which can be as small as one floor of an office building |
| Zipfel | (German m.) corner, point, tail-end |
| Zipizape | (Spanish m.) row |
| Zipolo | (Italian m.) a spigot (a small peg or plug, especially in a cask) |
| Zirbaghali | an Afghan goblet-shaped drum with a single head |
| Zirka | (German) about |
| Zirkel | (German m.) pair of compasses, circle (group) |
| Zirkelkanon | (German m., literally 'circle canon') perpetual canon |
| Zirkuläratmung | (German f.) circular breathing |
| Zirkularatmung | (German f.) circular breathing |
| zirkulär gewundene Trompete | (German f.) coiled trumpet [entry provided by Michael Zapf] |
| Zirkulation | (German f.) circulation |
| Zirkulationsatmung | (German f.) circular breathing |
| zirkulieren | (German) to circulate |
| zirkulierendes Atmen | (German) circular breathing |
| Zirkus | (German m.) circus |
| Zirkusvorstellung | (German f.) circus performance |
| zirlare | (Italian) to whistle (like a thrush), to cry like a thrush, to sing like a thrush |
| Zirlo | (Italian m.) a thrush's cry or song |
| zirpen | (German) to chirp |
| Ziryâb (798-853) | (Arabic, literally 'black song-bird') the freedman poet and courtier Abu 'l-Hasan 'Alî Ibn Nâfi' who in 822 came from Baghdad, where he had fallen out with his teacher Ishâk al-Mawsilî, to Córdoba in Al-Andalus (Moorish Spain) then the centre of the independent Umayyad dynasty. Escaping to Tunisia, Ziryâb procured an invitation to the Andalusian court, arriving with the aid of the Jewish musician Mansûr. He brought to Córdoba a new Persian-inspired musical movement that departed from classical Arabic tradition. The caliph at Córdoba, 'Abd al-Rahmân II, whose court boasted an extraordinary group of singers of the Medina school as well as an important singer from Alexandria, developed an extraordinary infatuation with Ziryâb. He presented him with wealth, pensions, and gifts, and, writes al-Makkarî, "When in the course of time his attachment for him became still stronger, he caused a private door to be made, by which Ziryab might enter his apartment [unperceived]." Ziryâb was famed not just for his poetry, singing, and lute playing, but also for his style and his wide-ranging knowledge. Musicians would follow Ziryâb's musical rules for generations to come, not only in Córdoba, but in Sevilla, Toledo, Valencia, and Granada. Between the innovations in Baghdad and Córdoba, the 9th-century is remembered as the golden age of Islamic music, determining the course of music in the Arabic-speaking world for a thousand years to come |
| |
| zischen | (German) to hiss, to sizzle (of fat) |
| Zitat | (German n.) a quotation, a quote |
| Zitcom | a television comedy aimed at teenagers (colloquial) |
| Zitella | (Italian f.) a spinster, an unmarried girl, an old maid (perjorative) |
| Zitellona | (Italian f.) old maid, spinster |
| Zitellone | (Italian m.) old batchelor |
| Zither | (English, German f.) also cithare (French) or cetra da tavolo (Italian), a Tyrolean dulcimer bearing about 40 strings stretched over a closed wooden box: 4 or 5 melody strings are fretted with the left hand while the remainder are accompaniment strings |
| the term is applied generally to any instrument with strings running parallel to and along the full length of the soundbox (resonating body) | |
| zithers can be divided into two classes, the fretted zithers (also called 'concert zithers') and fretless zithers | |
| Zither, bowed | see 'bowed zither' |
| Zither, chord | see 'chord zither' |
| Zither, concert | see 'concert zither' |
| Zitherist | a zither player |
| Zitherschläger | (German) an obsolete term for a guitar player |
| zither-viol | the 18th-century double-strung bowed guitar |
| Ziti | see riti |
| zitieren | (German) to quote, to summon |
| Zitrone | (German f.) lemon |
| Zitronenlimonade | (German f.) lemonade |
| Zitter | an early German name for the 'cittern' |
| zittern | (German) to tremble, to shiver (cold), to shake |
| zitternd | (German) trembling, tremulous, tremolano |
| zitternde Stimme | (German f.) a quiver (trembling) |
| zittire | (Italian) to hiss |
| zitto | (Italian) silent |
| zittrig | (German) shaky, shakily |
| zivil | (German) civilian, civil, reasonable |
| Zivilcourage | (German f.) courage of one's convictions |
| Zivildienst | (German m.) community service |
| Zivilisation | (German f.) civilization |
| zivilisieren | (German) to civilize |
| zivilisiert | (German) civilized, in a civilized manner |
| Zivilist | (German m.) civilian |
| Zivilstandsregister | (German n.) births, marriages and deaths [entry provided by Michael Zapf] |
| Ziyia | (Greek) a term applied to 'paired groups', that is instruments that traditionally are used together, thus, the pear-shaped Macedonian lira and the large dachares (tambourine), violi and laouto on the Greek islands, and the zourna and daouli |
| Zizhu dongxiao | (Chinese) where zizhu means a kind of bamboo, a bamboo end-blown flute |
| Zizzania | (Italian f.) dissension (figurative), discord (figurative), darnel (grass growing in a cereal crop) |
| Zn | abbreviation and chemical symbol for 'zinc' |
| Znamena | see 'Znamennïy' |
| Znamennïy | style of liturgical chant, that originated in Russia, and developed during the Middle Ages and Baroque periods, its name deriving from the Russian word meaning neume. It is written using special signs, called znamena (archaic for 'marks', 'signs') or kryuki ('hooks'), notation that evolved from the Byzantine Kondakarion notation, which to this day remains undecipherable |
| |
| Znamenny | see Znamennïy |
| Zócalo | (Spanish m.) skirting board, plinth |
| Zoccolaio | (Italian m.) a maker of wooden shoes or clogs |
| Zoccolante | (Italian m.) a Franciscan friar |
| zoccolare | (Italian) to clatter, to tramp about in clogs |
| Zoccolo | (Italian m.) clog, sabot, wooden shoe, hoof, wainscot or dado, skirting board |
| (Italian m.) pedestal, base or plinth of a column as on a harp, Fuß (German m.), cuvette (French f.), socle (French m.) | |
| zodiacale | (Italian) pertaining to the Zodiac |
| Zodiaco | (Italian m.) Zodiac |
| zoeken van de noot | (Dutch) to seek the note |
| Zögern | (German n.) hesitation |
| zögern | (German) to hesitate |
| zögernd | (German) lingered, hesitant, hesitantly, delayed, rallentando, stentando |
| Zögernder | (German) a continual retarding of the time, slower and slower |
| Zolfa | (Italian) synonymous with sol-fa |
| Zolfa degli Armeni | (Italian) church music of the Armenian rite |
| Zolfanello | (Italian m.) a (sulphur) match |
| Zolfara | (Italian f.) a sulphur mine |
| Zolfatara | (Italian f.) a sulphur mine |
| Zolfatura | (Italian f.) sulphuration |
| Zolfo | (Italian m.) sulphur |
| Zoll | (German m.) inch |
| (German m.) (customs) duty, customs | |
| Zolla | (Italian f.) clod, sod, turf, lump (of soil) |
| Zollabfertigung | (German f.) customs clearance |
| Zollbeamte, Zollbeamter | (German) customs office |
| Zolletta | (Italian f.) a small lump (sugar, etc.) |
| zollfrei | (German) duty-free |
| Zollkontrolle | (German f.) customs check |
| Zollverein | (German m.) a customs union |
| zombare | (Italian) to thumb |
| Zombie | (West Afrian) a copse revivified and compelled to carry out certain actions by the magical power of Voodoo, hence, an automaton, a person whose actions appear mechanical and involuntary |
| Zona | (Italian f., Spanish f.) zone, region, area, belt (geographical) |
| (French m.) shingles (medical) | |
| Zona comercial | (Spanish f.) commercial district |
| Zona de acampada | (Spanish f.) camp site |
| Zona de acceso | (Spanish f.) access area |
| Zona de carga y descarga | (Spanish f.) loading and unloading only |
| Zona de castigo | (Spanish f.) penalty area |
| Zona de daños por humos | (Spanish f.) smoke-damaged area, area showing damage caused by smoke (from a fire) |
| Zona de obras | (Spanish f.) work area |
| Zona de operaciones | (Spanish f.) operational zone |
| Zona de prostitución | (Spanish f.) red-light district |
| Zona de restauración | (Spanish f.) catering area |
| Zona de recepción | (Spanish f.) reception |
| Zona de secano | (Spanish f.) dry region |
| Zona de vestíbulo | (Spanish f.) hall, hallway |
| Zona horaria | (Spanish f.) time zone |
| Zona industrial | (Spanish f.) industrial park |
| Zona militar | (Spanish f.) military zone |
| Zona neutral | (Spanish f.) neutral zone |
| Zona peatonal | (Spanish f.) pedestrian precinct |
| Zona roja | (Spanish f. - Latin America) red-light district |
| Zona verde | (Spanish f.) park, green space |
| Zona equatoriale delle calme | (Italian f.) the doldrums |
| Zonaradikos | a Thracian circle dance in which the participants hold one another's belts. This is the principal dance of Thrace and is danced by men |
| Zona verde | (Italian f.) green belt |
| zonder begeleiding | (Dutch) unaccompanied |
| Zone | (English, German f.) an area |
| Zone blue | (French f.) restricted parking zone |
| Zongora (s.), Zongore (pl.) | (Romanian) guitar |
| Zoogei | (Japanese) an element of the Japanese medieval Buddhist performing tradition |
| zool. | abbreviation of 'zoology', 'zoologist', 'zoological' |
| Zoologe | (German m.) zoologist |
| Zoologia | (Italian f.) zoology |
| Zoología | (Spanish f.) zoology |
| zoologico | (Italian) zoological |
| zoológico | (Spanish) zoological |
| Zoologie | (French f., German f.) zoology |
| zoologique | (French) zoological |
| zoologisch | (German) zoological |
| Zoologiste | (French m./f.) zoologist |
| Zoologo (m.), Zoologa | (Italian) zoologist |
| Zoólogo | (Spanish m.) zoologist |
| Zoomorphic | decorations placed with a text which contain animals or parts of animals. Enlarged letters can be composed of bird's heads and feline tails for example. Any manuscript decoration which contains animals or parts of animals, especially if the parts are arranged to form a letter or word |
| Zopenco | (Spanish m.) idiot |
| zopenco | (Spanish) stupid |
| Zopf | (German m., literally 'pigtail', 'plait') a colloquial term applied to 18th-century art and music |
| Zoppa | see zoppo |
| zoppa, alla |  |
| (Italian) with a syncopated or limping rhythm (three notes in a 4 beat bar, in the ratio 1:2:1) or as the Scotch snap | |
| Zoppaggine | (Italian f.) limp, lameness |
| zoppicante | (Italian) limping, halting, shaky |
| zoppicare | (Italian) to limp, to walk lame, to stand unsteadily, to be shaky |
| zoppicone | (Italian) limping, limpingly, unsteadily |
| Zoppo (m.), Zoppa (f.) | (Italian) cripple |
| zoppo (m.), zoppa (f.) | (Italian) lame, halting, limping, unsteady, wobbling |
| Zoquete | (Spanish m.) block (of wood), blockhead (person) |
| Zorn | (German m.) anger |
| zornig | (German) adiratamente (Italian), angry, angrily, sternly, wrathful, aufgebracht (German), coléreusement (French) |
| Zoroastrian music | see Avesta |
| Zorra | (Spanish f.) fox, vixen |
| Zorro | (Spanish m.) fox, dog-fox |
| Zortziko | 5-in-a-bar Basque folk dance where the second and fourth beats are generally dotted |
| see bertsolaritza | |
| Zoticaggine | (Italian f.) boorishness, roughness, rusticity |
| Zotichezza | (Italian f.) boorishness, roughness, rusticity |
| zotico | (Italian) uncouth, boorish, rough, coarse (cloth), hard (soil) |
| Zoticone | (Italian m.) utter boor, rude fellow |
| zotig | (German) smutty, dirty |
| zottig | (German) shaggy |
| Zouk | (Creole, slang word for 'party') modern dance music from the French-speaking Antilles. Elements of gwo ka, tambour, ti bwa and biguine vidé are prominent in zouk. The French Creole tongue of Martinique and Guadeloupe is an important element, and are a distinctive part of the music |
| Zouk chouv | zouk chouv has evolved from chouval bwa by adding electric instrumentation |
| Zouk-Lambada | also called Lambada-Zouk, a group of closely related dance styles based on or evolved from the lambada dance style and is typically danced to zouk music or other music containing the zouk beat. There are two dominant styles of Zouk-Lambada called (Brazilian) zou and Lambazouk. The Zouk-Lambada dancing styles are among the most popular non-ballroom dances for couples in Brazil, others being Forró, Lambada, Samba de gafieira and Salsa |
| Zoumas | Greek folk shawm |
| Zouave | (French) a member of a body of French light infantry equiped in quasi-Oriental uniform |
| Zozobra | (Spanish f.) anxiety (figurative) |
| zozobrar | (Spanish) to be shipwrecked, to be ruined (figurative) |
| Zs. | abbreviation of Zeitschrift (German: periodical, journal) |
| Zsch | after Elsa M. Zschinsky-Troxler, the cataloguer of music by Gaetano Pugnani (1731-1798) |
| z.T. | abbreviation of zum Teil (German: in part, partly) |
| Ztg | abbreviation of Zeitung (German: newspaper) |
