Pylimitics

The first word in an English dictionary is often “aardvark”. But what about the last one? That depends on the dictionary. In many cases it’s “zymurgy,” which is fermentation, such as in making beer or wine. The American Homebrewers Association, which is “dedicated to empowering home brewers to make the best beer in the world,” even titled its magazine Zymurgy. 

“Zymurgy” comes from the Greek word “zume,” which is the yeast that causes fermentation. “Enzyme” also comes from “zume.” But back to the dictionaries — there are other last words, including “zythum” — that one is also beer-related; it was a kind of beer made by the ancient Egyptians. 

Not particularly related to beers “Zyrian,” which is the name of a language (which probably has a word for beer). The same language is also called “Komi,” and comes from the part of Russia that’s around the northern Ural mountains — that’s the portion of Russia that’s in Europe. Komi, or “Komi-Zyrian,” is still spoken in that region. 

There’s a bit of a conundrum in one of the dictionaries. The last word in the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary is included even though it’s impossible to use in Scrabble: it’s “zyzzyva” (a kind of beetle found in South America). Scrabble includes only one “z” tile and one blank one that can be anything — but even if you have both of those, you’d still need a third “z” in to spell “zyzzyva,” so you can’t. You’d get a lot of points if you could, though. 

To find the ultimate in last words, you have to find the Bloomsbury English Dictionary. Its last word is probably impossible to beat: “zzzz.” They define it as “the sound of somebody sleeping or snoring, often used in cartoons.” That sound is also made, of course, by people trying to stay awake while reading about the last words in dictionaries.