zigzag
/θiɡθaɡ/from spelling rules
The English phrase zig zag is translated into Spanish as zigzag.
How do you pronounce it?
/θiɡθaɡ/
Did you know?
- The letter 'z' in zigzag is pronounced as a 'theta' sound /θ/ in Peninsular Spanish, but as an 's' sound /s/ in Latin American Spanish.
- The word zigzag was borrowed into Spanish from the French 'zigzag'.
- In some Spanish-speaking contexts, especially in technical drawing or manual instructions, you might see the phrase en forma de z used to describe a zig zag movement. This refers to the shape of the letter 'z'.
Examples in context
- El camino a través de la montaña culebreaba peligrosamenteThe road through the mountain zig zagged dangerously
- El camino tiene un patrón zigzag.The path has a zigzag pattern.
- Dibujé una línea en zigzag en el cuaderno.I drew a zigzag line in the notebook.
- El coche avanzaba en zigzag por la calle.The car was moving in a zigzag way down the street.
Example conversation
Mateo and María are looking at a map of a hiking trail.
- MaríaMira, el sendero hace un zigzag por la montaña.Look, the trail goes in a zigzag through the mountain.
- MateoEs un camino muy largo para subir.It is a very long way to go up.
- MaríaPero es más seguro caminar así.But it is safer to walk like that.
- MateoTienes razón, María.You are right, María.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries zigzag, CC BY-SA 4.0.
