zeal
Pluralzeals (some meanings)
- 1Intense, untiring devotion to a person, cause, or ideal and a resolve to advance it; more broadly, eager and diligent enthusiasm.
The new manager attacked the backlog with a zeal that surprised her staff.
Reformers pursued the cause with almost religious zeal.
UsageCommon in with (great, religious) zeal and zeal for a cause.
Similarenthusiasm, passion, eagerness, ardour, intensity
Oppositeapathy
Note
A double edge has been there from the start: Greek zêlos meant both zeal and jealousy, and jealous grew from the same root. The word is praised in a reformer and distrusted once it outruns judgment; the King James Bible of 1611 speaks of a zeal of God "but not according to knowledge", and Dryden's The Hind and the Panther calls zeal "the blind conductor of the will".
- 2A group of zebras, used as a collective noun.
The children's book teaches fun group names, from a zeal of zebras to a parliament of owls.
Our guide, who loved odd animal words, called the herd ahead of us a zeal of zebras.
UsageMostly in lists of animal group names: a zeal of zebras. In ordinary description, herd is the plain word.
- 3A person full of fervent, tireless devotion to a cause or ideal.
Similarzealot
Note
Seventeenth-century writers could call a person a zeal, sometimes with a hostile edge: Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair has "like a malicious purblind zeal as thou art!", while Thomas Browne's Religio Medici speaks of the wiser zeals of the churches. Zealot has since taken over the job, and this use survives only in old texts.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
- Zeal could denote a person exhibiting fervent devotion. en.wiktionary.org
- The personal use occurs in seventeenth-century writing: Jonson's play has a 1631 title page. hcmc.uvic.ca
- Ben Jonson wrote Bartholomew Fair. hcmc.uvic.ca
- The quoted insult occurs in the play, with modernized spelling, and demonstrates a hostile use. Puppet Dionysius addresses Busy. hcmc.uvic.ca
- Thomas Browne authored Religio Medici, published in the seventeenth century. name.umdl.umich.edu
- Religio Medici speaks of wiser zeals within churches. luminarium.org
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of zeal apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂- ("to search") lies behind Ancient Greek zêlos ("zeal, jealousy"), which passed into Late Latin as zēlus, Old French as zel, and Middle English as zele. Jealous is a related word.