Wordwyrt

zany

/ˈzeɪni/ZAY-nee
/ˈzeɪni/ZAY-nee

MeaningJohn

Common meaning: a clown

Journey through time

  1. GreekἸωάννης‘John’source
  2. ItalianZane‘a familiar form of John, a fool in a play’source
  3. Englishmeaning shiftsa familiar form of John, a fool in a play → a clownzany‘a clown’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Greek Ἰωάννης ‘John’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry ZANY, p. 726 · dictionary scan

Roots

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app