Zeal Meaning
/ziːl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe fervour or tireless devotion for a person, cause, or ideal and determination in its furtherance; diligent enthusiasm; powerful interest.
nounA person who exhibits such fervour or tireless devotion.
Sentence Examples
Zeal for your house will consume me.
Success is due less to ability than to zeal.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Her ____ for the project drove the team to finish ahead of schedule.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He approached the new project with a lot of ____ and enthusiasm, determined to make it several real success today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English zele, from Old French zel, from Late Latin zēlus, from Ancient Greek ζῆλος (zêlos, “zeal, jealousy”), from Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂- (“to search”). Related to jealous.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Romans 10:2:
"Zeal, the blind conductor of the will"
— 1687, [John Dryden], “The Third Part”, in The Hind and the Panther. A Poem, in Three Parts, 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 96:
"[…] the highest zeal in religion and the deepest hypocrisy, so far from being inconsistent, are often or commonly united in the same individual character."
— 1779, David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, part 12, pages 143–144:
"[He] would begin admiring her drawings with so much zeal and so little knowledge as seemed terribly like a would-be lover,"
— 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter 14, in Emma: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 250:
"It [Troutbeck] has religious isolation also, for it is several miles—and very strenuous miles in winter—from the parish church at Mungrisdale, and the introduction of the harmonium to the waiting room was due to the zeal of a vicar of many years ago who, in the absence of any other room in the village, obtained permission to use the premises for services, including Sunday School. Most of his successors have continued this self-sacrificing duty."
— 1951 October, “Notes and News: The Harmonium at Troutbeck”, in Railway Magazine, page 709:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Her ____ for the project drove the team to finish ahead of schedule.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He approached the new project with a lot of ____ and enthusiasm, determined to make it several real success today.