The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
ZELKOVA
Definition of ZELKOVA
noun
A kind of tree in the elm family (genus Zelkova).
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From New Latin (genus name) from Russian дзе́льква (dzélʹkva, “tree, wood”), from Georgian ძელქვა (ʒelkva), from Old Georgian ძელქვაჲ (ʒelkvay), from ძელი (ʒeli, “beam”) + ქვაჲ (kvay, “stone”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
20th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
0.5%
of traced words share this origin (374)
branch · 0.7% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, ZELKOVA · 1 relative in the game
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
ZELKOVA in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 2 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 107, 4 September 2026. The most recent board was Day 160, 27 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 5 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 107, 4 September 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
ZELKOVA starts with Z and ends with A. Sorted, its letters read AEKLOVZ - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram. It uses Z - among the least common letters in written English.
Could you have found ZELKOVA?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 107 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER