Z
ZAB (Ar.),
a fountain; e.g. Great and Little Zab, in Turkey.
ZARNY , or CZERNY (Sclav.),
black; e.g. Zschorne (black town); Sornosche-Elster, i.e. the black R. Elster; Zschornegosda (black inn); Zarnowice, Zarnowitz, Sarne, Sarnow, Sarnowo, Sarnaki (black village).
ZERENY , or CZERENY (Sclav.),
red; e.g. Tscherna (the red river); Tscherniz or Zerniz (red town); Tzernagora (red mountain).
ZERKWA (Sclav.),
a Greek church, from the Grk. kuriake; a Romish church in their language is called kosciol; a Protestant church, zbor; e.g. Zerkowo, Zerkowitz, Zerkwitz (the town of the Greek church).
ZETTEL (Sclav.),
from sedal (Ger.), a seat or settlement; e.g. Brockzettel (the settlement or seat on the broken-up land); Endzettel (the settlement at the corner); Weinzettel (the wine settlement).
ZI (Old Fr.),
a habitation; e.g. Sussi (the habitation on high ground); Issy (the dwelling, here, or on low ground); Passy (the dwelling near the boat—bac or bad).
Footnotes
1 Ancient Books of Wales, vol. i. p. 144, with reference to the famous work of Chalmers, the Caledonia.
2 A, signifying in possession, seems to be derived from a, Old Norse, I have; aga, I possess. The Old English awe, to own, is still retained in the north of England and in Aberdeenshire.
3 Caer-afon (the fortress on the water) was its ancient name.
4 It obtained the name from two large stones that lay on the roadside near the church, and possessed that property.
5 For the word Beltein, v. Joyce’s Irish Names of Places, vol. i. p. 187; Chambers’s Encyclopædia; and Petrie’s Round Towers of Ireland.