zeal

English

Etymology

From Middle English zele, from Old French zel, from Late Latin zēlus, from Ancient Greek ζῆλος (zêlos, “zeal, jealousy”), from Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂- (“to search”). Related to jealous.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ziːl/
(US) IPA^(key): /zil/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -iːl

Noun

zeal (countable and uncountable, plural zeals)

The fervour or tireless devotion for a person, cause, or ideal and determination in its furtherance; diligent enthusiasm; powerful interest.
She extols the virtues of veganism with missionary zeal.
Synonyms: ardour, eagerness, enthusiasm, intensity, passion
Antonym: apathy
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Romans 10:2:
  I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
- 1687, [John Dryden], “The Third Part”, in The Hind and the Panther. A Poem, in Three Parts, 2nd edition, London: Printed for Jacob Tonson […], OCLC 460679539, page 96:
  Zeal, the blind conductor of the will
- 1779, David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion‎, page 143-144:
  […] the highest zeal in religion and the deepest hypocrisy, so far from being inconsistent, are often or commonly united in the same individual character.
- 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter 14, in Emma: […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II or III), London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, OCLC 1708336, page 250:
  [He] would begin admiring her drawings with so much zeal and so little knowledge as seemed terribly like a would-be lover,
- 1962, Rachel Carson, chapter 15, in Silent Spring‎, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, page 248:
  The stockman’s zeal for eliminating the coyote has resulted in plagues of field mice, which the coyote formerly controlled.
(obsolete) A person who exhibits such fervour or tireless devotion.
Synonym: zealot
- 1614, Ben Jonson, Bartholomew Fair‎, London: Robert Allot, page 85:
  […] like a malicious purblinde zeale as thou art!
- 1642, Thomas Browne, Religio Medici‎, London: Andrew Crooke, page 5:
  […] there are questionlesse both in Greeke, Roman and Africa Churches, solemnities, and ceremonies, whereof the wiser zeales doe make a Christian use, and stand condemned by us;
The collective noun for a group of zebras.
Synonyms: dazzle, herd
- 2012, Alex Kuskowski, Zeal of Zebras: Animal Groups on an African Safari, →ISBN, page 8:
  A zeal of zebras confuses predators. Each zebra has a different set of stripes.

Related terms

jealous
jealousy
zealot
zealotic
zealotical
zealotry
zealous
zealously
zealousness

Translations

fervor or devotion

Albanian: cenë (sq)
Arabic: حماس‎
Egyptian Arabic: جهد‎ m (guhd)
Azerbaijani: şövq, canfəşanlıq
Bulgarian: усърдие (bg) n (usǎrdie), старание (bg) n (staranie), стремеж (bg) m (stremež)
Catalan: zel (ca) m
Cherokee: ᎤᏚᎩᎬᏗ (udugigvdi)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 熱心／热心 (zh) (rèxīn), 熱情／热情 (zh) (rèqíng), 激情 (zh) (jīqíng), 熱忱／热忱 (zh) (rèchén)
Cornish: diwysykter m
Czech: horlivost f
Dutch: ijver (nl) m, geestdrift (nl) m
Esperanto: fervoro (eo)
Finnish: into (fi), intohimo (fi), kiihko (fi)
French: zèle (fr) m, assiduité (fr) f
Georgian: გულმოდგინება (gulmodgineba), სიბეჯითე (sibeǯite), თავგამოდება (tavgamodeba)
German: Eifer (de) m, Begeisterung (de) f
Gothic: 𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 n (aljan)
Greek:
Ancient: προθυμία f (prothumía)
Hungarian: buzgóság (hu), buzgalom (hu), lelkesedés (hu), hév (hu), hevület
Ido: zelo (io)
Interlingua: zelo (ia)
Irish: díograis f
Italian: zelo (it) m
Japanese: 熱情 (ja) (netsujō)
Latin: studium (la) n
Norwegian: engasjement (no) n, iver m
Persian: غیرت‎ (fa) (ğeyrat), تعصب‎ (fa) (ta'assob)
Plautdietsch: Iewa m
Polish: zapał (pl) m inan, gorliwość (pl) f
Portuguese: zelo (pt) m
Romanian: zel (ro) n, ardoare (ro) f, râvnă (ro) f, sârguință (ro) f
Russian: рве́ние (ru) n (rvénije), усе́рдие (ru) n (usérdije)
Scottish Gaelic: eud m
Spanish: ahínco (es) m, fervor (es) m, celo (es) m, entusiasmo (es) m, denuedo (es) m
Swedish: iver (sv), nit (sv) c, nitälskan c
Tocharian B: spelkke
Turkish: hırs (tr), şevk (tr), heves (tr)
Welsh: sêl f, selogrwydd m

Anagrams

Elza, Zale, laze, zale