Etymology

zek

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Today it means: A prisoner at a Russian prison, especially (historical) at a Soviet labour camp. Full definition →

First used 20th c.Russian зэ́к
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The story

  1. Russian · derived fromзэ́к
  2. English todayzek

From Russian зэ́к (zɛ́k), probably representing a pronunciation of з/к (z/k), Soviet abbreviation of заключённый каналоармеец (zaključónnyj kanaloarmejec, “prisoner member of the [White Sea–Baltic] Canal army”).

First known use, by meaning

  • from 20th c. A prisoner at a Russian prison, especially (historical) at a Soviet labour camp.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.