# zeal

Pronunciation: say "ZEEL" US /zil/, UK /ziːl/

## Noun

1. Intense, untiring devotion to a person, cause, or ideal and a resolve to advance it; more broadly, eager and diligent enthusiasm.
   - Simple: Great energy and eagerness for a person, cause or idea that you believe in and work hard for.
   - _The new manager attacked the backlog with a zeal that surprised her staff._
   - _Reformers pursued the cause with almost religious zeal._
2. A group of zebras, used as a collective noun.
   - Simple: A group of zebras.
   - _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._

## Noun

3. A person full of fervent, tireless devotion to a cause or ideal. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A person who cares very strongly about a cause and works hard for 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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/zeal (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).