View source for Z

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}{{Short description|Twenty-sixth letter of the Latin alphabet}}
{{About|the letter of the Latin alphabet|the Greek letter with the same symbol|Zeta|other uses}}
{{pp-pc}}
{{pp-move|small=yes}}
{{Infobox grapheme
|name=Z
|letter=Z z
|script=[[Latin script]]
|type=[[Alphabet]]
|typedesc=ic and [[logographic]]
|language=[[Latin language]]
|phonemes=
{{flex list
|[{{IPAlink|z}}]
|[{{IPAlink|d͡z}}]
|[{{IPAlink|t͡s}}]
|[{{IPAlink|d͡ʒ}}]
|[{{IPAlink|ð}}]
|[{{IPAlink|θ}}]
|[{{IPAlink|s}}]
|[{{IPAlink|ʃ}}]
|[{{IPAlink|j}}]
|{{IPAc-en|z|ɛ|d}}
|{{IPAc-en|z|iː}}
}}
|unicode=U+005A, U+007A
|alphanumber=26
|number=
|fam1=<hiero>Z4</hiero>
|fam2=[[File:Proto-semiticZ-01.svg|class=skin-invert-image|20px|Proto-Sinaitic Zayin]]
|fam3=[[File:Protozayn.svg|class=skin-invert-image|20px]]
|fam4=[[File:Phoenician zayin.svg|class=skin-invert-image|20px|Phoenician Zayin]]
|fam5=[[Image:PhoenicianZ-01.svg|class=skin-invert-image|30px]]
|fam6=[[Zeta|Ζ ζ]]
|fam7=[[𐌆]]
|usageperiod= {{circa}} 700 BCE to present
|children=
{{flex list
|[[Ʒ]]
|[[Ç]]
|[[Ƶ]]
|[[Ž]]
|[[Ż]]
|[[𐌶]]
|{{not a typo|[[ℤ]]}}
|[[Ꮓ]]
}}
|sisters=
{{flex list
|[[З]]
|[[Ѕ]]
|[[Ԑ]]
|[[Ԇ]]
|[[Ҙ]]
|[[ꙅ]]
|[[Ӡ]]
|[[Zayin|ז ز ܙ]]
|[[ژ]]
|[[ࠆ]]
|[[ዘ]]
|[[𐎇]]
|[[զ|Զ զ]]
|[[Ꮓ]]
|[[Ꮛ]]
|[[Ꮸ]]
|[[ડ]]
|[[ઢ]]
|[[Ja (Indic)|ज़]]
}}
Disputed: [[Digeut|ㄷ]]
|equivalents=
|associates=[[List of Latin-script digraphs#Z|z(x)]], [[Cz (digraph)|cz]], [[dž]], [[Dz (digraph)|dz]], [[Sz (digraph)|sz]], [[Hungarian dzs|dzs]], [[tzsch]]
|direction=Left-to-right
|image=File:Latin letter Z.svg
|imageclass=skin-invert-image
}}
{{Latin letter info|z}}

'''Z''', or '''z''', is the twenty-sixth and last [[Letter (alphabet)|letter]] of the [[Latin alphabet]]. It is used in the [[English alphabet|modern English alphabet]], in the alphabets of other Western European languages, and in others worldwide. Its usual names in English are [[English alphabet#Letter names|''zed'']] ({{IPAc-en|'|z|ɛ|d}}), which is most commonly used in British English, and [[English alphabet#Letter names|''zee'']] ({{IPAc-en|'|z|iː|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Z.wav}}), most commonly used in American English,<sup><ref>Canada and some Caribbean countries use ''zee'' along with ''zed'', with the latter being preferred in written English.</ref></sup> with an occasional archaic variant ''izzard'' ({{IPAc-en|'|ɪ|z|ər|d}}).<ref name="Oxford English Dictionary 1989">"Z", ''Oxford English Dictionary,'' 2nd edition (1989); ''Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1993); "zee", ''op. cit''.</ref>

==Name==
[[File:Zebra 2.jpg|thumb|The [[Zebra|z''ebra'']] is sometimes used as a memorization aid in English education.]]
In most English-speaking countries, including Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom, the letter's name is ''zed'' {{IPAc-en|z|ɛ|d}}, reflecting its derivation from the [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] letter ''[[zeta]]'' (this dates to Latin, which borrowed Y and Z from Greek), but in [[American English]] its name is ''zee'' {{IPAc-en|z|iː}}, analogous to the names for B, C, D, etc., and deriving from a late 17th-century English dialectal form.<ref>One early use of "zee": {{cite book |last1=Lye |first1=Thomas |title=A new spelling book, 1677 |url=https://archive.org/details/newspellingbook100lyet |url-access=registration |year=1969 |publisher=Menston, (Yorkshire) Scolar Press |orig-year=2nd ed., London, 1677 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newspellingbook100lyet/page/n11 24] |quote=Zee Za-cha-ry, Zion, zeal |lccn=70407159}}</ref>

Another English dialectal form is ''izzard'' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɪ|z|ər|d}}. This dates from the mid-18th century and probably derives from [[Occitan language|Occitan]] {{lang|oc|izèda}} or the [[French language|French]] {{lang|fr|ézed}}, whose reconstructed Latin form would be ''*idzēta'',<ref name="Oxford English Dictionary 1989"/> perhaps a [[Vulgar Latin]] form with a [[prosthesis (linguistics)|prosthetic]] vowel. Outside of the anglosphere, its variants are still used in [[Hong Kong English]] and [[Cantonese]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Chugani |first=Michael |date=2014-01-04 |title=又中又英——Mispronunciations are prevalent in Hong Kong |url=http://news.stheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=270572&section_name=wtt&kw=-1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427102932/http://news.stheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=270572&section_name=wtt&kw=-1 |archive-date=2017-04-27 |access-date=2017-04-26 |publisher=[[Headline Daily]]}}</ref>

Other languages spell the letter's name in a similar way: {{lang|it|zeta}} in [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Basque language|Basque]], and [[Spanish language|Spanish]], {{lang|is|seta}} in [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] (no longer part of [[Icelandic orthography|its alphabet]] but found in personal names), {{lang|pt|zê}} in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], {{lang|sv|zäta}} in [[Swedish language|Swedish]], {{lang|da|zæt}} in [[Danish language|Danish]], {{lang|nl|zet}} in [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Romanian language|Romanian]], and [[Czech language|Czech]], {{lang|de|Zett}} in [[German language|German]] (capitalized as a noun), {{lang|no|zett}} in [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], {{lang|fr|zède}} in [[French language|French]], {{Nihongo|''zetto''|ゼット}} in [[Japanese language|Japanese]], and {{lang|vi|giét}} in [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] (not part of [[Vietnamese alphabet|its alphabet]]). Several languages render it as {{IPAslink|ts}} or {{IPAslink|dz}}, e.g. {{lang|fi|tseta}} {{IPA|/ˈtsetɑ/}} or more rarely {{lang|fi|tset}} {{IPA|/tset/}} in [[Finnish language|Finnish]] (sometimes dropping the first ''t'' altogether; {{IPA|/ˈsetɑ/}}, or {{IPA|/set/}} the latter of which is not very commonplace). In [[Standard Chinese]] [[pinyin]], the name of the letter Z is pronounced {{IPA|[tsɨ]}}, as in "zi", although the English ''zed'' and ''zee'' have become very common. In [[Esperanto orthography|Esperanto]] the name of the letter Z is pronounced {{IPA|/zo/}}.

==History==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Phoenician<br />[[Zayin]]
! Western Greek<br />[[Zeta]]
! Etruscan<br />Z
! Latin<br />Z
|- style="text-align:center;"
| [[Image:PhoenicianZ-01.svg|class=skin-invert-image|36px]]
| [[Image:Greek Zeta archaic.svg|class=skin-invert-image|45px]]
| [[Image:EtruscanZ-01.svg|class=skin-invert-image|x30px]]
| [[Image:Capitalis monumentalis Z.SVG|class=skin-invert-image|x30px]]
|}

===Semitic===
The [[Semitic symbol]] was the seventh letter, named ''[[zayin]]'', which meant "weapon" or "sword". It represented either the sound {{IPAslink|z}} as in English and French, or possibly more like {{IPAslink|dz}} (as in Italian ''{{lang|it|zeta}}'', ''{{lang|it|zero}}'').

===Greek===
The Greek form of Z was a close copy of the [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]] [[Zayin]] ([[File:Phoenician zayin.svg|class=skin-invert-image|15px|Zayin]]), and the Greek inscriptional form remained in this shape throughout ancient times. The Greeks called it ''[[zeta (letter)|zeta]]'', a new name made in imitation of ''[[eta]]'' (η) and ''[[theta]]'' (θ).

In earlier Greek of [[Athens]] and Northwest Greece, the letter seems to have represented {{IPAslink|dz}}; in Attic, from the 4th century BC onwards, it seems to have stood for {{IPA|/zd/}} and {{IPAslink|dz}} – there is no consensus concerning this issue.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0058%3Aentry%3Dzh%3Dta |author1=Henry George Liddell |author2=Robert Scott |work=An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon |title=ζῆτα |access-date=July 23, 2016 |archive-date=March 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200306130356/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0058%3Aentry%3Dzh%3Dta |url-status=live }}</ref> In other dialects, such as Elean and [[Crete|Cretan]], the symbol seems to have been used for sounds resembling the English voiced and voiceless ''th'' (IPA {{IPAslink|ð}} and {{IPAslink|θ}}, respectively). In the common dialect ([[koine Greek|koine]]) that succeeded the older dialects, ζ became {{IPAslink|z}}, as it remains in modern Greek.

===Etruscan===
The [[Etruscan language|Etruscan]] letter ''Z'' was derived from the [[Phoenician alphabet]], most probably through the Greek alphabet used on the island of Ischia. In [[Old Italic alphabet|Etruscan]], this letter may have represented {{IPAslink|ts}}.

===Latin===
The letter ''Z'' existed in more archaic versions of Latin, but at {{circa|300 BC}}, [[Appius Claudius Caecus]], the Roman [[Roman censor|censor]], removed the letter Z from the alphabet, because the appearance while pronouncing it imitated a grinning skull.<ref>Lindsay, Wallace Martin. The Latin Language: An Historical Account of Latin Sounds, Stems and Flexions. United Kingdom: Clarendon Press, 1894. "Martianus Capella tells us that the letter was removed from the alphabet by Appius Claudius Caecus the famous censor of 312 BC adding the curious reason that in pronouncing it the teeth assumed the appearance of the teeth of a grinning skull Mart Cap iii 261 z vero idcirco Appius Claudius detestatur quod dentes mortui dum expri mitur imitatur"</ref> A more likely explanation is that the {{IPAslink|z}} sound that it probably represented had disappeared from Latin after turning into {{IPAslink|r}} due to a [[rhotacism]] process,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Appius Claudius Caecus and the Letter Z |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/miscellanea/zed.html}}</ref> making the letter useless for spelling Latin words.<ref>The Encyclopaedia Britannica: Franciscans-Gibson. United Kingdom: At the University Press, 1910. pg. 377 "G"</ref> Whatever the case may be, Appius Claudius's distaste for the letter Z is today credited as the reason for its removal. A few centuries later, after the [[Roman conquest of Greece|Roman Conquest of Greece]], Z was again borrowed to spell words from the prestigious Attic dialect of Greek.

Before the reintroduction of ''z'', the sound of zeta was written ''s'' at the beginning of words and ''ss'' in the middle of words, as in ''{{lang|la|sōna}}'' for {{lang|grc|ζώνη}} "belt" and ''{{lang|la|trapessita}}'' for {{lang|grc|τραπεζίτης}} "banker".

In some inscriptions, ''z'' represented a [[Vulgar Latin]] sound, likely an [[affricate consonant|affricate]], formed by the merging of the [[linguistic reconstruction|reflexes]] of [[Classical Latin]] {{IPAslink|j}}, {{IPA|/dj/}} and {{IPA|/gj/}}:{{fix|text=example needed|title=We need an example of /gj/ for completeness.}} for example, ''{{lang|la|zanuariu}}'' for ''{{lang|la|ianuariu}}'' "January", ''{{lang|la|ziaconus}}'' for ''{{lang|la|diaconus}}'' "deacon", and ''{{lang|la|oze}}'' for ''{{lang|la|hodie}}'' "today".<ref>Ti Alkire & Carol Rosen, ''Romance Languages: A Historical Introduction'' (Cambridge: [[Cambridge University Press]], 2010), 61.</ref><!--Alkire and Roen don't explicitly say that it was {{IPAslink|dʒ}}; they say "a slightly affricated /j/", whatever that is supposed to mean, and state that its medial outcome in Spanish was still /j/.--> Likewise, {{IPA|/di/}} sometimes replaced {{IPAslink|z}} in words like ''{{lang|la|baptidiare}}'' for ''{{lang|la|baptizare}}'' "to baptize". In modern Italian, ''z'' represents {{IPAslink|ts}} or {{IPAslink|dz}}, whereas the reflexes of ''{{lang|la|ianuarius}}'' and ''{{lang|la|hodie}}'' are written with the letter ''g'' (representing {{IPA|/dʒ/}} when before ''i'' and ''e''): ''{{lang|it|gennaio}}'', ''{{lang|it|oggi}}''. In other languages, such as [[Spanish language|Spanish]], further evolution of the sound occurred.

===Old English===
[[Old English]] used ''S'' alone for both the unvoiced and the voiced [[sibilant]]. The Latin sound imported through French was new and was not written with ''Z'' but with ''G'' or ''I''. The successive changes can be seen in the [[Doublet (linguistics)|doublet]] forms ''jealous'' and ''zealous''. Both of these come from a late Latin ''{{lang|la|zelosus}}'', derived from the imported Greek {{lang|grc|ζῆλος}} ''{{lang|grc-Latn|zêlos}}''. The earlier form is ''jealous''; its initial sound is the {{IPAblink|dʒ}}, which developed to [[French language|Modern French]] {{IPAblink|ʒ}}. [[John Wycliffe]] wrote the word as {{lang|ang|gelows}} or {{lang|ang|ielous}}.

''Z'' at the end of a word was pronounced ''ts'', as in English ''assets'', from [[Old French]] ''{{lang|fro|asez}}'' "enough" ([[French language|Modern French]] ''{{lang|fr|assez}}''), from [[Vulgar Latin]] ''{{lang|la|ad satis}}'' ("to sufficiency").<ref>{{OED|asset}}</ref>

===Last letter of the alphabet===
In earlier times, the [[English alphabet]]s used by children terminated not with ''Z'' but with ''[[Ampersand|&]]'' or related typographic symbols.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The History of 'Ampersand' |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/the-history-of-ampersand |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-09-07 |title=What Character Was Removed From The Alphabet? |url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/ampersand/ |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=Dictionary.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

Some Latin based alphabets have extra letters on the end of the alphabet. The last letter for the [[Icelandic orthography|Icelandic]], [[Finnish orthography|Finnish]] and [[Swedish alphabet|Swedish]] alphabets is [[Ö]], while it is [[Å]] for [[Danish orthography|Danish]] and [[Norwegian orthography|Norwegian]]. The German alphabet ends with ''Z'', as the umlauts (''Ä/ä'', ''Ö/ö'', and ''Ü/ü'') and the letter ''[[ß]]'' ({{lang|de|Eszett}} or {{lang|de|scharfes S}}) are regarded respectively as modifications of the vowels ''a/o/u'' and as a (standardized) variant spelling of ''ss'', not as independent letters, so they come after the unmodified letters in the alphabetical order.{{Cn|date=April 2025}}

=== Typographic variants<span class="anchor" id="Variant and derived forms"></span> ===
The [[Z with stroke|variant with a stroke]] {{angbr|Ƶƶ}} and the lower-case [[Ezh|tailed Z]] {{angbr|ʒ}}, though distinct characters, can also be considered to be [[allograph]]s of {{angbr|Z}}/{{angbr|z}}.

Tailed Z (German ''{{lang|de|geschwänztes Z}}'', also ''{{lang|de|Z mit Unterschlinge}}'') originated in the medieval [[Gothic minuscule]]s and the Early Modern [[Blackletter]] typefaces. In some [[Antiqua (typeface class)|Antiqua]] typefaces, this letter is present as a standalone letter or in ligatures. [[Typographic ligature|Ligated]] with [[long s]] (ſ), it is part of the origin of the [[Eszett]] (ß) in the [[German alphabet]]. The character came to be indistinguishable from the [[yogh]] (ȝ) in [[Middle English]] writing, leading to the [[Menzies#Pronunciation|apparently anomalous pronunciation]] of the surname ''Menzies''. 

[[Unicode]] assigns codepoints {{unichar|2128|BLACK-LETTER CAPITAL Z|html=}} and {{unichar|1D537|MATHEMATICAL FRAKTUR SMALL Z|html=}} in the [[Letterlike Symbols]] and [[Mathematical alphanumeric symbols]] ranges respectively.

<div class='skin-invert-image'><gallery widths="64px">
Image:Z-small-VA-64x88.svg|lowercase [[cursive]] ''z''
Image:Z-small-Variante.svg|tailed ''z'' in a sans-serif typeface
</gallery></div>

==Use in writing systems==
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|+ Pronunciation of {{angbr|z}} by language
! Orthography
! Phonemes
|-
! [[Basque orthography|Basque]]
| {{IPAslink|s|s̻}}
|-
! [[Cantonese]] ([[Jyutping]])
| {{IPAslink|ts}}
|-
! [[Catalan orthography|Catalan]]
| {{IPAslink|z}}, {{IPAslink|s}}
|-
! {{nwr|[[Standard Chinese]]}} ([[Pinyin]])
| {{IPAslink|ts}}
|-
! [[Czech orthography|Czech]]
| {{IPAslink|z}}
|-
! [[Finnish orthography|Finnish]]
| {{IPAslink|ts}}
|-
! [[French orthography|French]]
| {{IPAslink|z}} (often {{IPAslink|s}} or silent, but {{IPAslink|ts}} in loanwords from German and {{IPAslink|dz}} in loanwords from Italian)
|-
! [[German orthography|German]]
| {{IPAslink|ts}}
|-
! [[Galician alphabet|Galician]]
| {{IPAslink|θ}}, {{IPAslink|s}}
|-
! [[Hungarian orthography|Hungarian]]
| {{IPAslink|z}}
|-
! [[Inari Sámi language|Inari Sámi]]
| {{IPAslink|dz}}
|-
! [[Indonesian orthography|Indonesian]]
| {{IPAslink|z}}
|-
! [[Italian orthography|Italian]]
| {{IPAslink|dz}}, {{IPAslink|ts}}
|-
! [[Japanese language|Japanese]] ([[Hepburn romanization|Hepburn]])
| {{IPAslink|z}}~{{IPAslink|dz}}
|-
! [[Northern Sami orthography|Northern Sami]]
| {{IPAslink|dz}}
|-
! [[Polish orthography|Polish]]
| {{IPAslink|z|z}}
|-
![[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]
|{{IPAslink|z}}, {{IPAslink|s}}~{{IPAslink|ʃ}}
|-
! [[Scots orthography|Scots]]
| {{IPAslink|z}}, {{IPAslink|g}}, {{IPAslink|j}}
|-
! [[Spanish orthography|Spanish]]
| {{IPAslink|θ}}, {{IPAslink|s}}
|-
! [[Turkish alphabet|Turkish]]
| {{IPAslink|z}}
|-
! [[Turkmen orthography|Turkmen]]
| {{IPAslink|ð}}
|-
! [[Venetian orthography|Venetian]]
| {{IPAslink|z}}, {{IPAslink|dz}}, {{IPAslink|ð}}, {{IPAslink|d}}
|}

===English===
In modern [[English orthography]], the letter {{angbr|z}} usually represents the sound {{IPAc-en|z}}.

It represents {{IPAc-en|ʒ}} in words like ''[[wikt:seizure|seizure]]''. More often, this sound appears as {{angbr|su}} or {{angbr|si}} in words such as ''measure'', ''decision'', etc. In all these words, {{IPAc-en|ʒ}} developed from earlier {{IPAc-en|zj}} by [[Yod-coalescence|''yod''-coalescence]].

Few words in the [[Basic English]] vocabulary begin or end with {{angbr|z}}, though it occurs within other words. It is the [[letter frequency|least frequently used letter]] in written [[English language|English]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pages.central.edu/emp/LintonT/classes/spring01/cryptography/letterfreq.html |title=English letter frequencies |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609184153/http://pages.central.edu/emp/LintonT/classes/spring01/cryptography/letterfreq.html |archive-date=2010-06-09}}</ref> with a frequency of about 0.08% in words.
{{angbr|z}} is more common in the [[Oxford spelling|Oxford spelling of British English]] than in standard [[British English]], as this variant prefers the more etymologically 'correct' ''-ize'' endings, which are closer to [[Greek language|Greek]], to ''-ise'' endings, which are closer to [[French language|French]]; however, ''-yse'' is preferred over ''-yze'' in Oxford spelling, as it is closer to the original Greek roots of words like ''analyse''. The most common variety of English it is used in is [[American English]], which prefers both the ''-ize'' and ''-yze'' endings. One native Germanic English word that contains 'z', ''freeze'' (past ''froze'', participle ''frozen'') came to be spelled that way by convention, even though it could have been spelled with 's' (as with ''choose'', ''chose'' and ''chosen'').

{{angbr|z}} is used in writing to represent the act of [[sleep]]ing (often using multiple z's, like ''zzzz''), as an [[onomatopoeia]] for the sound of closed-mouth human [[snoring]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.plushbeds.com/blogs/green-sleep/how-did-the-letters-z-z-z-z-become-synonymous-with-sleep-and-snoring|title=How Z-z-z-z-z-z Became Synonymous With Sleep and Snoring|date=24 January 2020 }}</ref>

===Other languages===
{{angbr|z}} stands for a [[voiced alveolar sibilant|voiced alveolar]] or [[voiced dental sibilant]] {{IPAslink|z}}, in [[Albanian language|Albanian]], [[Breton language|Breton]], [[Czech language|Czech]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[French language|French]], [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], [[Latvian language|Latvian]], [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], [[Romanian language|Romanian]], [[Serbo-Croatian Language|Serbo-Croatian]], and [[Slovak language|Slovak]]. It stands for {{IPAslink|t͡s}} in [[Standard Mandarin|Chinese]] [[pinyin]] and [[Jyutping]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]] (occurs in loanwords only), and [[German language|German]], and is likewise expressed {{IPA|/ts/}} in [[Old Norse]]. In [[Italian language|Italian]], it represents two phonemes, {{IPAslink|t͡s}} and {{IPAslink|d͡z}}. In [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], it stands for {{IPAslink|z}} in most cases, but also for {{IPAslink|s}} or {{IPAslink|ʃ}} (depending on the regional variant) at the end of syllables. In Basque, it represents the sound {{IPAslink|s}}.

Castilian [[Spanish language|Spanish]] uses the letter to represent {{IPAslink|θ}} (as English {{angbr|th}} in ''thing''), though in other dialects ([[Latin America]]n, [[Andalusia]]n) this sound has merged with {{IPAslink|s}}. Before voiced consonants, the sound is voiced to {{IPAblink|ð}} or {{IPAblink|z}}, sometimes debbucalized to {{IPAblink|ɦ}} (as in the surname ''Guzmán'' {{IPA|[ɡuðˈman]}}, {{IPA|[ɡuzˈman]}} or {{IPA|[ɡuɦˈman]}}). This is the only context in which {{angbr|z}} can represent a voiced sibilant {{IPAblink|z}} in Spanish, though {{angbr|s}} also represents {{IPAblink|z}} (or {{IPAblink|ɦ}}, depending on the dialect) in this environment.

In Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish, {{angbr|z}} usually stands for the sound /s/ and thus shares the value of {{angbr|s}}; it normally occurs only in [[loanword]]s that are spelt with {{angbr|z}} in the source languages.

The letter {{angbr|z}} on its own represents {{IPAslink|z}} in [[Polish language|Polish]]. It is also used in four of the seven officially recognized digraphs: {{angbr|cz}} ({{IPAslink|t͡ʂ}}), {{angbr|dz}} ({{IPAslink|d͡z}}), {{angbr|rz}} ({{IPAslink|ʐ}} or {{IPAslink|ʂ}}) and {{angbr|sz}} ({{IPAslink|ʂ}}), and is one of the most frequently used of the consonant letters in that language. (Other Slavic languages avoid digraphs and mark the corresponding phonemes with the {{lang|cs|[[caron|háček]]}} (caron) diacritic: {{angbr|č}}, {{angbr|ď}}, {{angbr|ř}}, {{angbr|š}}; this system has its origin in [[Czech orthography]] of the [[Hussite]] period.) {{angbr|z}} can also appear with diacritical marks, namely {{angbr|ź}} and {{angbr|ż}}, which are used to represent the sounds {{IPAslink|ʑ}} and {{IPAslink|ʐ}}. They also appear in the digraphs {{angbr|dź}} ({{IPAslink|d͡ʑ}}) and {{angbr|dż}} ({{IPAslink|d͡ʐ}}).

Hungarian uses {{angbr|z}} in the digraphs {{angbr|sz}} (expressing {{IPAslink|s}}, as opposed to the value of {{angbr|s}}, which is {{IPA|ʃ}}), and {{angbr|zs}} (expressing {{IPA|ʒ}}). The letter {{angbr|z}} on its own represents {{IPAslink|z}}.

In [[Modern Scots#Consonants|Modern Scots]], {{angbr|z}} usually represents {{IPAslink|z}}, but is also used in place of the obsolete letter {{angbr|ȝ}} ([[yogh]]), which represents {{IPAslink|g}} and {{IPAslink|j}}. Whilst there are a few common nouns which use {{angbr|z}} in this manner, such as {{lang|sco|brulzie}} (pronounced 'brulgey' meaning broil), {{angbr|z}} as a yogh substitute is more common in people's names and placenames. Often the names are pronounced to follow the apparent English spelling, so Mackenzie is commonly pronounced with {{IPAslink|z}}. Menzies, however, retains the pronunciation of 'Mingus'.

Among non-European languages that have adopted the Latin alphabet, {{angbr|z}} usually stands for {{IPA|[z]}}, such as in [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]], [[Igbo language|Igbo]], [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]], [[Shona language|Shona]], [[Swahili language|Swahili]], [[Tatar language|Tatar]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]], and [[Zulu language|Zulu]]. {{angbr|z}} represents {{IPAblink|d͡z}} in [[Northern Sami]] and [[Inari Sámi language|Inari Sami]]. In [[Turkmen language|Turkmen]], {{angbr|z}} represents {{IPAblink|ð}}.

In the [[Nihon-shiki romanization|Nihon-shiki]], [[Kunrei-shiki romanization|Kunrei-shiki]], and [[Hepburn romanization|Hepburn]] romanisations of [[Japanese language|Japanese]], {{angbr|z}} stands for a phoneme whose [[allophone]]s include {{IPAblink|z}} and {{IPAblink|dz}} (see [[Yotsugana]]). Additionally, in the Nihon-shiki and Kunrei-shiki systems, {{angbr|z}} is used to represent that same phoneme before {{IPAslink|i}}, where it's pronounced {{IPA|[{{IPAlink|d͡ʑ}} ~ {{IPAlink|ʑ}}]}}.

In the [[Jyutping]] romanization of [[Cantonese]], {{angbr|z}} represents {{IPAslink|ts}}. Other romanizations use either {{angbr|j}}, {{angbr|ch}}, or {{angbr|ts}}.

===Other systems===
In the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]], {{angbr|z}} represents the [[voiced alveolar sibilant]]. The graphical variant {{angbr IPA|[[Ezh|ʒ]]}} was adopted as the sign for the [[voiced postalveolar fricative]].

==Other uses==
{{main article|Z (disambiguation)}}
* In [[mathematics]], {{unichar|2124|(DOUBLE-STRUCK CAPITAL Z)}} is used to denote the set of [[integer]]s. Originally, <math>\mathbb{Z}</math> was just a [[Blackboard bold|handwritten version]] of the bold capital '''Z''' used in printing but, over time, it has come to be used more frequently in printed works too. The variable {{mvar|z}} is also commonly used to represent a [[complex number]].
* In geometry, z is used to denote the third axis in [[Cartesian coordinate system|Cartesian coordinates]] when representing 3-dimensional space.
* In [[chemistry]], the letter ''Z'' is used to denote the [[atomic number]] of an element (number of protons), such as ''Z''=3 for [[lithium]].
* In electrical engineering, ''Z'' is used to denote [[electrical impedance]].
* In [[astronomy]], z is a [[dimensionless quantity]] representing [[redshift]].
* In [[nuclear physics]], ''Z'' denotes the [[atomic number]] and {{SubatomicParticle|Z boson0}} denotes a [[Z boson]].
* In [[computer programming]], Z is the abbreviation for the [[zero flag]].
* In Japan, the [[Z flag]] is a symbol in the national myth, representing the [[Battle of Tsushima]].
* [[Z (military symbol)|Z has been used]] by the [[Russian Armed Forces]] as an [[identifier|identifying symbol]] on its [[military vehicle]]s, during [[Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russia's invasion of Ukraine]]. Russian civilians have used the symbol to express support for the invasion.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-03-07 |title=Why has the letter Z become the symbol of war for Russia? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/07/why-has-the-letter-z-become-the-symbol-of-war-for-russia |access-date=2022-03-07 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-03-07 |title=Ivan Kuliak: Why has 'Z' become a Russian pro-war symbol? |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60644832 |access-date=2022-03-07}}</ref>

==Related characters==
<!-- Please only list characters (symbols in a writing system, but not just convenience code points in Unicode) that are actually related in terms of origin to the letter that is the topic of this article. Characters that merely look subjectively similar need not apply. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Identifying_reliable_sources before adding more. -->

===Descendants and related characters in the Latin alphabet===
* Z with [[diacritic]]s: [[Ź|Ź ź]] [[Ẑ|Ẑ ẑ]] [[Ž|Ž ž]] [[Ż|Ż ż]] [[Ẓ|Ẓ ẓ]] [[Macron below|Ẕ ẕ]] [[Z with stroke|Ƶ ƶ]] ᵶ<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2003/03174r2-mid-tilde.pdf|title=L2/03-174R2: Proposal to Encode Phonetic Symbols with Middle Tilde in the UCS|date=2003-09-30|first=Peter|last=Constable|access-date=2018-03-24|archive-date=2017-10-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011013938/http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2003/03174r2-mid-tilde.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Ᶎ<ref name="L217013"/> [[ᶎ]]<ref name="L204132">{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2004/04132-n2740-phonetic.pdf|title=L2/04-132 Proposal to add additional phonetic characters to the UCS|date=2004-04-19|first=Peter|last=Constable|access-date=2018-03-24|archive-date=2017-10-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011014355/http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2004/04132-n2740-phonetic.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Ⱬ|Ⱬ ⱬ]]
* [[ß]] : German letter regarded as a ligature of [[long s]] (ſ) and short s, called ''{{lang|de|scharfes S}}'' or ''{{lang|de|Eszett}}''. (In some typefaces and handwriting styles, it is rather a ligature of long s and tailed z (ſʒ).)
* [[Ȥ|Ȥ ȥ]]: Latin letter z with a hook, intended for the transcription of [[Middle High German]], for instances of the letter ''z'' with a sound value of /s/.
* Ɀ ɀ : Latin letter [[Z with swash tail]]
* Ʒ ʒ : Latin letter [[ezh]]
* Ꝣ ꝣ : [[Visigothic script|Visigothic]] Z
* Ᶎ ᶎ : Z with hook, used for writing [[Mandarin Chinese]] using the early draft version of [[pinyin]] romanization during the mid-1950s<ref name="L217013">{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17013-n4782-latin.pdf|title=L2/17-013: Proposal to encode three uppercase Latin letters used in early Pinyin|date=2017-01-16|first1=Andrew|last1=West|author-link=Andrew West (linguist)|first2=Eiso|last2=Chan|first3=Michael|last3=Everson|author-link3=Michael Everson|access-date=2019-03-08|archive-date=2018-12-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226054908/https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17013-n4782-latin.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[International Phonetic Alphabet]]-specific symbols related to Z: {{IPA link|ʒ}} {{IPA link|ʑ}} {{IPA link|ʐ}} {{IPA link|ɮ}}
* {{Unichar|1D22|LATIN LETTER SMALL CAPITAL Z}} is used in the [[Uralic Phonetic Alphabet]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2002/02141-n2419-uralic-phonetic.pdf|title=L2/02-141: Uralic Phonetic Alphabet characters for the UCS|date=2002-03-20|first1=Michael|last1=Everson|author-link1=Michael Everson|display-authors=etal|access-date=2018-03-24|archive-date=2018-02-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219081033/http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2002/02141-n2419-uralic-phonetic.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Modifier letters {{not a typo|ᶻ ᶼ ᶽ}} are used in phonetic transcription<ref name="L204132"/>

===Ancestors and siblings in other alphabets===
* 𐤆 : [[Phoenician alphabet|Semitic]] letter [[Zayin]], from which the following letters derive:
** Ζ ζ : [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] letter [[Zeta (letter)|Zeta]], from which the following letters derive:
*** {{Script|Copt|Ⲍ ⲍ}} : [[Coptic alphabet|Coptic]] letter Zēta
*** 𐌆 : [[Old Italic script|Old Italic]] Z, which is the ancestor of modern Latin Z
*** {{Script|Goth|𐌶}} : [[Gothic alphabet|Gothic]] letter ezec
*** З з : [[Cyrillic]] letter [[Ze (Cyrillic)|Ze]]

==Other representations==
=== <span class="anchor" id="Computing codes"></span> Unicode===
* {{unichar| 005A}} 
* {{unichar| 007A}}

===Other===
{{Letter other reps
|NATO=Zulu
|Morse=––··
|Character=Z
|Braille=⠵
|fingerspelling=Z
}}
{{clear}}

==See also==
* [[Bourbaki dangerous bend symbol]], {{unichar|2621|CAUTION SIGN}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
* {{Wiktionary-inline|Z}}
* {{Wiktionary-inline|z}}
{{Latin script|Z|}}
{{portal bar |Language |Linguistics |Writing}}

[[Category:ISO basic Latin letters]]