Count: 0 — There are no standard English single-word prepositions, nor widely accepted prepositional phrases whose first word begins with the letter Z that meet the criteria for this list. This guide addresses English learners, teachers, and writers who expect an authoritative alphabetical reference and highlights an interesting detail: the letter Z rarely appears at the start of closed-class function words like prepositions.

Oxford, Cambridge, and Merriam‑Webster list no prepositions beginning with Z, and major corpora (COCA, BNC) show no common usage. The absence has historical and phonological reasons: core English prepositions are short, ancient function words derived from Old English, Germanic, or Latin roots, and Z is uncommon as an initial letter in those sources. Loanwords and newer nouns or verbs that start with Z rarely become prepositions in standard usage.

Consider related options instead of expecting Z entries. Look for multi-word prepositional phrases headed by common prepositions (in, on, at, by) or consult full A–Z preposition lists for other letters. Note rare, regional, or erroneous uses may appear in informal speech, but they do not meet authoritative standards and should be tagged as archaic or nonstandard rather than included as bona fide prepositions beginning with Z.