Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An inmate of a Soviet labor camp.
Etymologies
- From Russian зэк (zèk), probably representing a pronunciation of з/к (z/k), Soviet abbreviation of заключённый (zaključënnyj, "prisoner"). (Wiktionary)
- Russian, from abbr. for zaklyuchënnyĭ, prisoner, from past passive participle of zaklyuchat', to imprison, from klyuch, key, from Old Church Slavonic ključĭ. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Assuming antitrust authorities permit the deal to go through, the 55-year-old Mr. Smisek (pronounced SMY-zek), who took the helm of Continental in January, is to become CEO of the merged carrier.”
“This whole story has remained almost completely invisible in America, which is strange because it was all about the adventures of American zek.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Why the Neglect of Communist Crimes Matters
“As a prisoner, or zek, he fasted in protest and fought strip searches, earning stints in the shizo -- cold punishment cells that broke many prisoners 'health and spirits.”
“The prison camp of ordinary zek Ivan Shukhov was, in reality, all of the Soviet Union.”
“This post has been removed by a blog administrator. zek July 14, 2006 7:31 AM # | Delete the pagebody-background.gif on the header it doesnt work with mozilla firefox, also the bullet.gif in the sidebar.”
“This analysis of incarceration in the Soviet Union, including the author's own experiences as a zek, called into question the moral foundations of the USSR Foucault examines the development of modern society's systems of incarceration”
“Quote from zek: "The most successful has been the Apple TV" is that true?”
“Critico-Sacrse \ quarum piima explicatur £zek.xiii. 18 j altera verb 2 Reg. x.”
“pls fix it! zek July 14, 2006 7:37 AM # | Delete i have the same problem in firefox ... please fix it soon and let me know of any work arounds in the mean time.”
“auuuthooooorrr... are u here? zek July 28, 2006 8:51 AM # | Delete”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘zek’.
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3-Letter Scrabble Words Which Do Not ...
A list of 3-letter words which cannot be formed by adding a letter to a 2-letter word (see Ken Clark's word lists found at http://www.seattlescrab...
ace, act, aff, aft, apo, app, apt, auk, ava, ave, avo, azo and 225 more...
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phrontistery-z
from phrontistery.info
zyzzyva, zythum, zymurgy, zymotic, zymotechnics, zymosis, zymosimeter, zymometer, zymology, zymogenic, zymite, zymic and 208 more...
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3-letter Scrabble Words
aah, aal, aas, aba, abo, abs, aby, ace, act, add, ado, ads and 995 more...
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Unusual words for Words With Friends
A list of words that WWF recognizes as valid - most are unusual words; some are simply high-scoring.
botel, slipe, jeu, chub, chubs, cote, mure, tittle, dev, loo, hoke, helo and 357 more...
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ktrey's wordlist
Words that I like.
Many may be lexicographically impotent due to a lack of citations and definition. Hopefully I'll be able to rectify this eventually.velleity, dispositive, bloviate, bibulous, fungible, concupiscence, avuncular, carnaptious, thrawn, hypocoristic, diegesis, lagniappe and 928 more...
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Sound or sequence
dulcimer, borborygmi, ecchymosis, scrivener, fustilugs, zarf, bawdyhouse, googleable, archfiend, gymkhana, cuckoopint, pilpul and 104 more...
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2008 Wordlist
Hopefully, I'll be using this site for more than one year. It will be fun then to look back and see what new words I found worthy of notice in any given year.
All words spotted in 2008...longanimity, permalancer, breeder, biodegradable, handicapable, gender-neutral, translator, interpreter, translation, interpreting, kleptocracy, fanfiction and 1598 more...
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Redatt's Words
crytoscopophilia, jiggle, redatt, brunt, dolt, ephemeral, fissure, helix, isotope, kaleidoscope, lemming, monied and 14 more...
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Gitmo
Words that attest to ways of cruelly and maliciously hurting humans.
strappado, bastinado, abacination, auto da fe, decollate, defenestration, culeus, parrilla, garrote, glasgow smile, curbstomp, picquet and 12 more...
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slavonicisms
English borrowings from Slavic languages; in some cases, a word might be rooted in another language but entered English from a Slavic language (e.g. nihilism was popularized by Ivan Turgenev, as ни...
ukase, vampire, knout, slave, cravat, tsar, czar, buggery, nihilism, intelligentsia, kopeck, ruble and 30 more...
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"Z" Words
Scrabble List
zyme, zori, zoos, zoon, zoom, zonk, zone, zoic, zoea, zits, ziti, zing and 76 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for zek.
mollusque Goodbye, Solzhenitsyn! Aug 7, 2008
adoarns A Gulag prisoner. Mar 23, 2008