nu - synonyms, antonyms, definitions

nu

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of nu in English

English Online Dictionary. What means nu‎? What does nu mean?

English

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek νῦ (nû), name for the letter of the Greek alphabet Ν (N) and ν (n).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /njuː/
(General American) IPA^(key): /nu/
Rhymes: -uː

Noun

nu (countable and uncountable, plural nus)

The letter of the Greek alphabet Ν (N) and ν (n).
A measure of constringence in lenses or prisms.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Yiddish נו (nu).

Pronunciation

(US) IPA^(key): /nu/

Interjection

(Jewish) An exclamation of surprise, emphasis, doubt, etc.
(Jewish) Well? (Used as a question to demand an answer from someone reluctant to answer.)

Translations

Etymology 3

Phonetic respelling of new.

Adjective

nu (comparative more nu, superlative most nu)

(slang spelling) new

Derived terms

nu-disco
nu gaze
nu-house
nu jazz
nu-male
nu metal
nu skool
NuTrek
NuWho

Anagrams

'un, -un-, U.N., UN, Un, un, un-

Ainu

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/

Verb

nu (Kana spelling ヌ)

(transitive) to hear
(transitive) to sense (a smell)
(possibly obsolete, transitive, + otta) to ask, enquire

Derived terms

inu (“to listen”)

Äiwoo

Verb

to drink

References

Ross, M. & Næss, Å. (2007) “An Oceanic origin for Äiwoo, the language of the Reef Islands?”, in Oceanic Linguistics, volume 46, number 2. Cited in: "Äiwoo" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271–283.

Ajië

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *niuʀ, Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *niuʀ.

Noun

coconut

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *nu, from Proto-Indo-European *nu (“now”). Related to ni. Compare Ancient Greek νῦν (nûn), Old High German nu (“now”).

Adverb

when

Related terms

References

Alemannic German

Pronunciation

(Zürich) IPA^(key): /nu/

Etymology 1

From Middle High German nūn, from Middle High German niuwan, variant of niuwar, from Old High German niwāri. Cognate with German nur.

Alternative forms

no, nun, nur
nume

Adverb

only

Etymology 2

From Middle High German nu, from Old High German nu. Cognate with German nun.

Alternative forms

Adverb

now
Synonym: jetz

Etymology 3

Historical or dialectal variants.

Adverb

Alternative form of no

Ama

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/

Noun

house

Aromanian

Etymology

From Latin nōn. Compare Romanian nu.

Adverb

Interjection

Antonyms

ie / e

Au

Noun

tree

References

Scorza, David. Au language word, phrase, clause. Ms. 82pp. (1976)

Blagar

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/

Numeral

References

W. A. L. Stokhof, Preliminary notes on the Alor and Pantar languages (East Indonesia) (1975)
Internet Archive, The Rosetta Project, Blagar Swadesh List

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin nūdus, from Proto-Indo-European *nogʷós.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈnu]
Rhymes: -u

Adjective

nu (feminine nua, masculine plural nus, feminine plural nues)

nude, naked
(of things, such as trees, mountains, houses, etc.) barren, bare

Derived terms

nuesa
nudista

Czech

Interjection

(dated) expresses prompting
Nu pojď! ― Come on!
(dated) expresses agreement and participation in a conversation
Synonyms: tak, no, nó
(dated) expresses consolation (esp. to a child)

Dalmatian

Etymology 1

From Latin novem.

Numeral

nine

Etymology 2

From Latin nōs.

Pronoun

(second-person plural pronoun) we

Related terms

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse nú (“now”), from Proto-Germanic *nu (“now”), from Proto-Indo-European *nu (“now”). Cognate with English now.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/, [nu]

Noun

nu n (singular definite nuet, not used in plural form)

now (present time), present (current time)
moment
instant

Adverb

Synonyms

Conjunction

Dutch

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ny/
Rhymes: -y

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch nu, from Old Dutch nū, from Proto-Germanic *nu.

Adverb

now, at the present moment
now, this time (indicating a certain amount of impatience)

Synonyms

nou
thans
heden

Descendants

Negerhollands: nue, nu, noe, nou
Skepi Creole Dutch: nou

Conjunction

now (that)

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek νῦ (nû). Doublet of noen.

Noun

nu m (plural nu's, diminutive nuutje n)

n (letter of the Greek alphabet)

East Central German

Etymology

From Sorbian or Czech. Cf. no.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nɵ/

Adverb

(Upper Saxon) yes

Elfdalian

Etymology

From Old Norse nú, from Proto-Germanic *nu. Cognate with Swedish nu.

Adverb

now, at this time

Esperanto

Etymology

From Russian ну (nu) and German nu, of Slavic origin (compare Polish no).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/
Rhymes: -u
Hyphenation: nu

Interjection

well (filled pause, particularly at the beginning of a response to a question)

Ewe

Noun

mouth

French

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ny/

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old French nu, from Latin nūdus, from Proto-Indo-European *nogʷós.

Adjective

nu (feminine nue, masculine plural nus, feminine plural nues)

(person): naked, nude
(body, tree): bare

Derived terms

à main nue / à mains nues
à l’œil nu
à poings nus
cul nu
demi-nu
mettre à nu
nu comme un ver
pieds nus
torse nu
vérité toute nue

Noun

nu m (plural nus)

(art) nude

Descendants

→ Russian: ню (nju)
→ Ukrainian: ню (nju)

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek νῦ (nû).

Noun

nu m (plural nu or nus)

nu (Greek letter)

Anagrams

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese nuu, from Latin nūdus, from Proto-Indo-European *nogʷós. Cognate with Portuguese nu.

Adjective

nu (feminine núa, masculine plural nus, feminine plural núas)

naked, nude
bare, barren

Related terms

nudez

Gaulish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *nu, from Proto-Indo-European *nu.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [nu]

Adverb

German

Etymology 1

From Middle High German nu, nuo. The form without a final -n remained common in some dialects and was reinforced by German Low German nu, from Middle Low German nû.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nuː/

Adverb

(colloquial or archaic) Alternative form of nun

Derived terms

im Nu

Interjection

(colloquial or archaic) Alternative form of nun

Etymology 2

From a Slavic dialect, probably Sorbian. Compare Czech ano (“yes”), Polish no (“yeah; well”), Russian ну (nu, “yeah; well”). In the sense of a filled pause touching on etymology 1 above.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [nɵ]

Interjection

(colloquial, regional, Saxony) yes; yeah; expresses agreement or understanding
(colloquial, regional, Saxony) well; fills pause

Gothic

Romanization

Romanization of 𐌽𐌿

Iaai

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *niuʀ, Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *niuʀ.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /n̪u/

Noun

coconut palm

Ingrian

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian ну (nu).

Pronunciation

(Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈnu/, [ˈnu]
(Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈnu/, [ˈnu]
Rhymes: -u
Hyphenation: nu

Interjection

Synonym of no (“well”)

References

Elena Markus (2024) “Syntax and functions of the Ingrian discourse particles no and nu”, in Eesti ja soome-ugri keeleteaduse ajakiri, volume 15, number 1, pages 155-186

Italian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈnu/
Rhymes: -u
Hyphenation: nù

Noun

nu m or f (invariable)

the name of the letter N

Anagrams

-un-, un, un'

Japanese

Romanization

The hiragana syllable ぬ (nu) or the katakana syllable ヌ (nu) in Hepburn romanization.

Kabuverdianu

Etymology

From Portuguese nós.

Pronoun

References

Gonçalves, Manuel (2015) Capeverdean Creole-English dictionary, →ISBN

Kamkata-viri

Etymology

From Proto-Nuristani *nuwa, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hnáwa, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈnu/

Numeral

nu (Kamviri, Western Kata-viri)

nine

References

Kosraean

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ñiuʀ. Compare Pohnpeian nih, Fijian niu, Tongan niu, Hawaiian niu.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/

Noun

coconut

Kusunda

Pronoun

you (second-person singular pronoun)

References

David E. Watters (2006) “Notes on Kusunda Grammar: A Language Isolate of Nepal”, in Himalayan Linguistics‎^[4], page 44

Latvian

Particle

well
Nu labi! ― Very well!
now
Ko nu? ― What now?

Interjection

well
Nu, kas notika? ― Well, what happened?

Mandarin

Romanization

Nonstandard spelling of nú.
Nonstandard spelling of nǔ.
Nonstandard spelling of nù.
Nonstandard spelling of nǘ.
Nonstandard spelling of nǚ.
Nonstandard spelling of nǜ.

Usage notes

Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Mauritian Creole

Pronoun

Alternative spelling of nou

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch nu, from Proto-Germanic *nu.

Adverb

now, currently
today
here
just now

Descendants

Dutch: nu
Limburgish: noe

Conjunction

now that
since, because

Descendants

Dutch: nu
Limburgish: noe

Middle English

Adverb

Alternative spelling of nou

Muong

Etymology

Cognate with Vietnamese nâu.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu¹/

Adjective

(Mường Bi) brown

Neapolitan

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin ūnus.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/

Article

nu m sg

a, an

Norman

Etymology

From Old French nu, from Latin nūdus.

Adjective

nu m

(Jersey) bare

Northern Sami

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

(Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈnuː/

Adverb

nū

so, thus, like that
so, to that extent

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

Noun

nu m (definite singular nuen, indefinite plural nuer, definite plural nuene)

a trough

Etymology 2

From Old Norse nú.

Adverb

(archaic or dialectal) now; Alternative form of nå

Interjection

Alternative form of nå

Noun

nu n (definite singular nuet, uncountable)

Alternative form of nå

References

“nu” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Noun

nu m (definite singular nuen, indefinite plural nuar, definite plural nuane)

a trough

Etymology 2

From Old Norse nú.

Adverb

(dialectal) now; Alternative form of no

Interjection

Alternative form of no

Noun

nu n (definite singular nuet, uncountable)

Alternative form of no

References

“nu” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *nu.

Adverb

nū

Derived terms

sinū

Descendants

Middle Dutch: nu
- Dutch: nu
- Limburgish: noe

Old English

Alternative forms

nuu — Northumbrian

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *nū, from Proto-Germanic *nu.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nuː/

Adverb

nū

now
- late 10th century, Ælfric, "On the Passion of the Apostles Peter and Paul"
just (in the sense "recently")
since
- late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy
- late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy
- late 10th century, Ælfric, "The Seven Sleepers"

Derived terms

nū rihte

Related terms

nūna

Descendants

Middle English: nou, noue, nowe, nu, no, neue, niu, noug, nough, nuge
- English: now
- Geordie English: noo
- Scots: nou, noo
- Yola: neow, nowe, now

Conjunction

nū

now that

Old French

Etymology

From Latin nūdus.

Adjective

nu m (oblique and nominative feminine singular nue)

naked

Adverb

nu m (feminine nue)

naked

Descendants

Middle French: nu, nud
- French: nu

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *nu.

Adverb

nū

now
since

References

Köbler, Gerhard, Altsächsisches Wörterbuch (5th edition 2014)

Pali

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Sanskrit नु (nu), from Proto-Indo-European *nu.

Particle

then, now

Pará Arára

Alternative forms

Noun

tumour; abscess

References

2010, Isaac Costa de Souza, A Phonological Description of “Pet Talk” in Arara (MA), SIL Brazil, page 42.

Phalura

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/

Pronoun

nu (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling نوۡ)

it
he
this one (prox masc nom)

References

Henrik Liljegren, Naseem Haider (2011) “nu”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎^[6], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/

Determiner

nu (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling نوۡ)

this (agr: prox nom masc)

References

Henrik Liljegren, Naseem Haider (2011) “nu”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎^[7], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

Plautdietsch

Adverb

Polish

Pronunciation

Rhymes: -u
Syllabification: nu

Interjection

quick!, forward!
(dialectal, Far Masovian) Alternative form of no (“yes”)
Umniés pisać? Nu ale umniem. (Far Masovian) ― Can you write? Yes I can.

Portuguese

Alternative forms

nú (misspelling)
nù (obsolete)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese nuu, from Latin nūdum. Compare Galician nu, Italian nudo, French nu.

Pronunciation

Rhymes: -u
Hyphenation: nu

Adjective

nu (feminine nua, masculine plural nus, feminine plural nuas)

naked, nude

Derived terms

Related terms

Prasuni

Etymology

From Proto-Nuristani, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hnáwa, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/ (tone class A)

Numeral

nu (Pronz)

nine

References

Romanian

Alternative forms

ну (nu) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Etymology

Inherited from Latin nōn. Compare Aromanian nu.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/
Rhymes: -u

Adverb

Usage notes

Romanian features the double negative. Nu is stressed within a normal sentence, but in a double negative construction is left unstressed in favour of the other negative component.

In speech—even in moderately formal contexts—nu is elided before verbs beginning with a, most notably the past perfect auxiliary avea.

Likewise, nu triggers prodelision before words (of any part of speech) beginning with î. Elision and prodelision are orthographically marked with a hyphen where no line break may occur.

In these cases, the syllable following the n of nu takes the sentence stress, which is stronger than the primary stress of the negated word.

Antonyms

References

nu in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Saterland Frisian

Interjection

well

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *nǫ.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/

Conjunction

nu (Cyrillic spelling ну)

(Croatia) but
(Croatia) however

Synonyms

ȁli, no, nut

Shuar

Determiner

that, those

References

Chicham: Dictionario Enciclopédico Shuar-Castellano

Sicilian

Article

nu m sg

(indefinite) a, an

Usage notes

Nu is used only before words beginning with the letter z or s and a consonant, like the Italian uno

South Slavey

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [nù(ʔ)]
Hyphenation: nu

Noun

nu (stem -nu-)

Ford Liard form of ndu

Inflection

References

Keren Rice (1989) A Grammar of Slave, Berlin, West Germany: Mouton de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 11

Sumerian

Romanization

Romanization of 𒉡 (nu)

Sundanese

Etymology

Shortening of anu.

Article

nu (Sundanese script ᮔᮥ)

An article that denotes a noun.
nu nyaho ― those who know
An article that denotes ownership.
Ieu nu urang, lain? ― This one's mine, right?

Pronoun

nu (Sundanese script ᮔᮥ)

which
Nu mana? ― Which one?

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse nú, from Proto-Germanic *nu.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nʉː/
Rhymes: -ʉː

Adverb

nu (not comparable)

now, at this moment

References

nu in Svensk ordbok (SO)
nu in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
nu in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Tày

Etymology

From Proto-Tai *ʰnuːᴬ. Cognate with Thai หนู (nǔu), Northern Thai ᩉ᩠ᨶᩪ, Lao ໜູ (nū), Tai Dam ꪘꪴ, Lü ᦐᦴ (ṅuu), Shan ၼူ (nǔu), Zhuang nou, Saek หนู่.

Pronunciation

(Thạch An – Tràng Định) IPA^(key): [nu˧˧]
(Trùng Khánh) IPA^(key): [nu˦˥]

Noun

nu (𪺹, 𮮬)

(zoology) mouse

References

Lục Văn Pảo, Hoàng Tuấn Nam (2003) Hoàng Triều Ân, editor, Từ điển chữ Nôm Tày [A Dictionary of (chữ) Nôm Tày]‎^[8] (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học Xã hội
Lương Bèn (2011) Từ điển Tày-Việt [Tay-Vietnamese dictionary]‎^[9][10] (in Vietnamese), Thái Nguyên: Nhà Xuất bản Đại học Thái Nguyên

Tetum

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *niuʀ.

Noun

coconut

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English new.

Adjective

new
fresh

Tooro

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/

Determiner

-nu

this, these (proximal demonstrative determiner)

Declension

Derived terms

leero nu (“now, today”)

References

Kaji, Shigeki (2007) A Rutooro Vocabulary‎^[11], Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), →ISBN, page 405

Volapük

Adverb

Derived terms

nuik

Waigali

Etymology

From Proto-Nuristani *nuwa, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hnáwa, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈnu/

Numeral

nu (Nisheigram)

nine

References

Wauja

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/

Pronoun

me (first-person singular indirect object pronoun)
Pinyanka nu! Katsa umawiu? Nama!
Tell me! What did [he] say? Come on!

Puputatain nu kuapi.
Give me a little [bit of] cotton thread.

Related terms

natu (I,me, my, mine)

References

E. Ireland field notes. Needs to be checked by a native speaker.

Wolof

Pronoun

we (first-person plural object pronoun)

Zia

Pronoun

Zou

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu˧/

Noun

mother

References

Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 45

nu

nu

English

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Interjection

Translations

Etymology 3

Adjective

Derived terms

See also

Anagrams

Ainu

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb

Derived terms

Äiwoo

Verb

References

Ajië

Etymology

Noun

Albanian

Etymology

Adverb

Related terms

References

Alemannic German

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

Adverb

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

Adverb

Etymology 3

Adverb

Ama

Pronunciation

Noun

Aromanian

Etymology

Adverb

Interjection

Antonyms

Au

Noun

References

Blagar

Pronunciation

Numeral

References

Catalan

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Derived terms

Czech

Interjection

Further reading

Dalmatian

Etymology 1

Numeral

Etymology 2

Pronoun

Related terms

See also

Danish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Adverb

Synonyms