u - synonyms, antonyms, definitions

u

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

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

Translingual

Etymology 1

Minuscule variation of U, a modern variation of classical Latin V, from seventh century Old Latin adoption of Old Italic letter 𐌖 (V).

Letter

u (upper case U)

The twenty-first letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Symbol

(metrology) Symbol for atomic mass unit
(IPA, phonetics) a close back rounded vowel.
(IPA, superscript ⟨ᵘ⟩) [u]-coloring, a [u] on-glide or off-glide (a diphthong), or a weak, fleeting, epenthetic or echo [u].
(international standards) transliterates Indic उ (or equivalent).
(physics) up quark

Gallery

Letter styles

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English lower case letter v (also written u), from Old English lower case u, from 7th century replacement by lower case u of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letter ᚢ (u, ur), derived from Raetic letter u.

Before the 1700s, the pointed form v was written at the beginning of a word, while a rounded form u was used elsewhere, regardless of sound. So whereas valor and excuse appeared as in modern printing, have and upon were printed haue and vpon. Eventually, in the 1700s, to differentiate between the consonant and vowel sounds, the v form was used to represent the consonant, and u the vowel sound. v then preceded u in the alphabet, but the order has since reversed.

Pronunciation

Letter name

IPA^(key): /ˈjuː/
Rhymes: -uː
Homophones: ewe, yew, you; hew, hue, Hugh (h-dropping)

Phoneme

(General Australian) IPA^(key): /a/, /ʉː/, /ʊ/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ʌ/, /uː/, /ʊ/
(US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ʌ/, /u/, /ʊ/
(South US) IPA^(key): /ʌ/, /ɜ/, /uː/, /ʊ/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U, plural us or u's)

The twenty-first letter of the English alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

Noun

u (plural ues)

The name of the Latin-script letter U/u.
A thing in the shape of the letter U

Alternative forms

Translations

Derived terms

u-turn
U-bolt
long u
short u
u-space
u-stem
u-substitution
u-word

Etymology 2

Pronoun

u (second person, singular or plural, nominative or objective, possessive determiner ur, possessive pronoun urs, singular reflexive urself, plural reflexive urselves)

(Internet slang, text messaging) Abbreviation of you.

Derived terms

Adjective

Abbreviation of underwater.

Derived terms

u-boat (1)

Etymology 3

Abbreviations.

(Stenoscript) a word-initial letter ⟨u⟩
(Stenoscript) the long vowel /uː/ or /juː/ at the end of a word, or before a final consonant that is not /dʒ, v, z/. (Note: the final consonant is not written; [ʊə˞] (-ure, -oor etc.) counts as /uːr/.)
Thus the words you, your; also derivative yours
(Stenoscript) the prefix un-

Derived terms

Acehnese

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [u]

Noun

coconut (fruit of the coco palm)

References

2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /y/

Etymology 1

From Dutch u.

Pronoun

(formal) you (singular, subject and object)

Etymology 2

From Dutch uw.

Determiner

(formal) your (singular)

Ajië

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [u]

Verb

to swim

References

Leenhardt, M. (1935) Vocabulaire et grammaire de la langue Houaïlou, Paris: Institut d'ethnologie. Cited in: "Houaïlou" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271–283.
Leenhardt, M. (1946) Langues et dialectes de l'Austro-Mèlanèsie. Cited in: "Ajiø" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271–283.

Akkadian

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *wa (“and”). Cognate with Arabic وَ (wa) and Biblical Hebrew וְ־ (wə̆-).

Pronunciation

(Old Babylonian) IPA^(key): /u/

Conjunction

and
moreover, likewise, also, too
𒅇 𒅆𒅅𒁕𒄠 𒋗𒁉𒇴 [u šiqdam šūbilam] ― u₃ ši-iq-da-am šu-bi-lam ― also, send me almonds

References

Huehnergard, John (2011) A Grammar of Akkadian (Harvard Semitic Studies; 45), 3rd edition, Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns
“šiqdu”, in The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (CAD)‎^[3], Chicago: University of Chicago Oriental Institute, 1956–2011

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *wa, from Proto-Indo-European *swom, from Proto-Indo-European *swé. Compare Latin sē.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /u/

Pronoun

the reflexive pronoun
u mblodhën ― they gathered (literally, “they gathered themselves”)

Alemannic German

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

un, und

Pronunciation

(Bern) IPA^(key): /ʊ/

Conjunction

(Bern) and

Etymology 2

Adverb

Alternative spelling of uu

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin aut.

Conjunction

Aromanian

Etymology

Probably from an early (proto-Romanian) root *eaua, from Latin illam, accusative feminine singular of ille. Compare Romanian o.

Pronoun

u f (short/unstressed accusative form of ea)

(direct object) her

Related terms

ãl (masculine equivalent)
li (plural)

Asturian

Etymology 1

From Latin aut.

Conjunction

Etymology 2

From Latin ubi.

Pronoun

where (relative pronoun)

Adverb

where

Related terms

Azerbaijani

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u lower case (upper case U)

The twenty-eighth letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Bambara

Pronoun

u (tone ù)

they

Basque

Pronunciation

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

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-second letter of the Basque alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

Noun

u (indeclinable)

The name of the Latin-script letter U/u.

Catalan

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-first letter of the Catalan alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Noun

u m (plural uns)

Derived terms

Cora

Particle

inside
within view (of the speaker)
entering a deep domain; entering a domain in an extensive manner

Antonyms

a (“outside; out of view”)

References

Eugene Casad, Ronald Langacker (1985) “'Inside' and 'outside' in Cora grammar”, in International Journal of American Linguistics

Corsican

Etymology

From the earlier lu. Compare Portuguese o and Aragonese o.

Article

u m (feminine a, masculine plural i, feminine plural e)

Usage notes

Before a vowel, u turns into l'.

Pronoun

u m

him, it (direct object)

Usage notes

Before a vowel, u turns into l'.

References

“u, lu” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa

Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech u, from Proto-Slavic *u.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /u/

Preposition

u + genitive

Drung

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-bu-s.

Noun

head

References

Ross Perlin (2019) A Grammar of Trung‎^[4], Santa Barbara: University of California

Dutch

Etymology

Originally the dative and accusative form of jij/gij, from Middle Dutch u, from Old Dutch iu, from Proto-West Germanic *iwwiz, from Proto-Germanic *iwwiz, West Germanic variant of *izwiz, dative/accusative of *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́. Doublet of jou.

The use as a nominative form is linked to the polite address uwe edelheid (“your nobility, your gentility”), which was shortened to U E. in writing and at times accordingly pronounced /yˈ(w)eː/. It is debated, however, whether this was the actual cause of the development or whether it merely reinforced it. Compare English you, which was originally an object form, as well as Afrikaans ons and nonstandard Dutch hun.

Cognate with West Frisian jo, Low German jo, ju, English you, German euch.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /y/

Pronoun

(personal, formal second-person singular, subjective) you (polite)
Bent u klaar? ― Are you ready?

Bent u er nog? ― Are you still there?
(personal, formal second-person singular, objective) you (polite)
Ik zal het aan u geven. ― I will give it to you.

Dit zal niet werken voor u. ― This won’t work for you.
(personal, second-person singular, objective) thee (dialectal)
Ik doe dat wel voor u. ― I’ll do it for thee.
(personal, formal second-person plural, subjective) you (polite)
Hebt u die oefening gemaakt? ― Have you prepared that exercise?
(personal, formal second-person plural, objective) you (polite)
Ze zullen dat wel voor u doen. ― They’ll do it for you.
(reflexive pronoun, formal second-person singular) yourself (polite)
U meldt u/zich aan. ― You log in.

Meld u aan! ― Log in!
(reflexive pronoun, formal second-person plural) yourselves (polite)
U meldt u/zich aan. ― You log in.

Meld u aan! ― Log in!
(reflexive pronoun, second-person singular) thyself (dialectal)
Gij hebt u niet gewassen. ― Thou hast not washed thyself.
(reflexive pronoun, second-person plural) yourselves (dialectal)
Wast u eens. ― Wash yourselves.

Usage notes

The capitalization of u (as in U or Uw) is now considered old-fashioned and no longer compulsory. In religious contexts, it is still often capitalized when addressing God.
In verbs whose second and third persons singular are distinct, u may be construed with either of them. In formal context, the second person form is generally preferred except for the verb hebben (“to have”). Thus predominantly u bent, kunt, wilt, zult, whereas u heeft is more common than (or at least equally common as) u hebt.
In the formal second person singular and plural reflexive senses, u alternates with zich, e.g. U meldt u/zich aan. 'You log in.' Zich is preferred if the reflexive pronoun immediately follows the subject pronoun u, e.g. Meldt u zich aan! 'Log in!', and if the subject pronoun u is used with a verb form that is identical with the third person singular and different from the informal second person singular, e.g. U heeft zich aangemeld. 'You have logged in.' Only u can be used in an imperative if the subject pronoun is not overt, e.g. Meld u aan! 'Log in!', where u is the reflexive pronoun.
See also the usage notes at gij.

Declension

Alternative forms

a (Brabant)

Synonyms

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-first letter of the Dutch alphabet, written in the Latin script.

References

Esperanto

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /u/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-fifth letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

Noun

u (accusative singular u-on, plural u-oj, accusative plural u-ojn)

The name of the Latin-script letter U/u.

Fala

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese o, from Latin illo (“he”).

Article

u m sg (plural us, feminine a, feminine plural as)

(Lagarteiru, Valverdeñu) Masculine singular definite article; the

Pronoun

(Lagarteiru, Valverdeñu) Third person singular masculine accusative pronoun; him

References

Valeš, Miroslav (2021) Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎^[5], 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN

Faroese

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /uː/

Letter

u (upper case U)

The twenty-third letter of the Faroese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Finnish

Etymology

The Finnish orthography using the Latin script was based on those of Swedish, German and Latin, and was first used in the mid-16th century. No earlier script is known. See the Wikipedia article on Finnish for more information, and u for information on the development of the glyph itself.

Pronunciation

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-first letter of the Finnish alphabet, called uu and written in the Latin script.

French

Pronunciation

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

Noun

u m (plural u)

The name of the Latin-script letter U/u.

Fula

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

A letter of the Fula alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

Common to all varieties of Fula (Fulfulde / Pulaar / Pular).

Galician

Etymology 1

From Latin ū.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈu/

Noun

u m (plural us)

the name of the letter U.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese u, from ubi.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈu/

Adverb

(archaic) where, whereby(Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)
Synonym: onde
where (interrogative adverb)
Synonym: onde

U-los libros? Ulos? ― Where are the books? Where are they?

References

“u”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
“u” in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (2014).
Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “u”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “u”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Gothic

Romanization

Romanization of 𐌿

Guinea-Bissau Creole

Etymology

From Portuguese tu.

Pronoun

you (second person singular).

Hungarian

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): [ˈu]
(letter name): IPA^(key): [ˈu]

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The thirty-fourth letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

Declension

Icelandic

Letter

u (upper case U)

The twenty-fourth letter of the Icelandic alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Ido

Pronunciation

(context pronunciation, letter name) IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (upper case U)

The twenty-first letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Irish

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The eighteenth letter of the Irish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Italian

Etymology

From Latin ū (the name of the letter V).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈu/^*
Rhymes: -u
Hyphenation: ù

Letter

u f or m (invariable, lower case, upper case U)

The nineteenth letter of the Italian alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

Noun

u f (invariable)

The name of the Latin-script letter U/u.

Japanese

Romanization

The hiragana syllable う (u) or the katakana syllable ウ (u) in Hepburn romanization.

Kankanaey

Etymology

Borrowed from Tagalog u. Letter pronunciation is influenced by English u.

Pronunciation

(letter name) IPA^(key): /ju/ [ju]
- Syllabification: u
(phoneme) IPA^(key): /u/ [u]
Rhymes: -u

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-third letter of the Kankanaey alphabet, called yu and written in the Latin script.

References

Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (2016) Ortograpiya di Kankanaëy [Kankanaey Orthography]‎^[6] (in Kankanaey and Tagalog), →ISBN, pages 10-11

Kashubian

Etymology

The Kashubian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Kashubian alphabet article on Wikipedia for more, and u for development of the glyph itself.

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-eighth letter of the Kashubian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Khasi

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʔuː/

Article

u m (feminine ka, masculine and feminine plural ki)

the (masculine singular definite article)

Pronoun

u m (feminine ka, masculine and feminine plural ki)

he, it

References

Singh, U Nissor (1906) Khasi-English dictionary‎^[7], Shillong: Eastern Bengal and Assam Secretariat Press, page 242. Searchable online at SEAlang.net.

K'iche'

Pronoun

his, her, its

References

Allen J. Christenson, Kʼiche-English dictionary

Kiowa

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (upper case U)

A letter of the Kiowa alphabet.

Usage notes

May occur long (u꞉) or nasal (un̶) or both (un̶꞉), but only after the velar consonants g̶, g, k, kʼ.

Lashi

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ʔu (“egg, bird”). Cognates include Burmese ဥ (u., “egg”) and Chinese 嫗 / 妪 (yǔ, “to incubate”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʔu/

Noun

Verb

to lay an egg

References

Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid‎^[8], Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis)

Latin

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈuː/, [ˈuː]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈu/, [ˈuː]

Noun

ū f (indeclinable)

The name of the letter V.

Coordinate terms

(Latin-script letter names) littera; ā, bē, cē, dē, ē, ef, gē, hā / *acca, ī, kā, el, em, en, ō, pē, kū, er, es, tē, ū, ix / īx / ex, ȳ / ī graeca / ȳpsīlon, zēta

References

u in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[9], London: Macmillan and Co.
u in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
Arthur E. Gordon, The Letter Names of the Latin Alphabet (University of California Press, 1973; volume 9 of University of California Publications: Classical Studies), part III: “Summary of the Ancient Evidence”, page 32: "Clearly there is no question or doubt about the names of the vowels A, E, I, O, U. They are simply long A, long E, etc. (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū). Nor is there any uncertainty with respect to the six mutes B, C, D, G, P, T. Their names are bē, cē, dē, gē, pē, tē (each with a long E). Or about H, K, and Q: they are hā, kā, kū—each, again, with a long vowel sound."

Latvian

Etymology

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

Pronunciation 1

IPA^(key): [u]

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-ninth letter of the Latvian alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

Pronunciation 2

IPA^(key): [u]

Noun

u m (invariable)

The name of the Latin script letter U/u.

Lithuanian

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /ʊ/

Letter

u (upper case U)

The twenty-seventh letter of the Lithuanian alphabet, called u trumpoji and written in the Latin script.

Livonian

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (upper case U)

The thirty-fifth letter of the Livonian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (upper case U)

The twenty-ninth letter of the Lower Sorbian alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.
The name of the Latin-script letter u/U.

Malay

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-first letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Maltese

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /u/ (short phoneme)
IPA^(key): /uː/ (long phoneme)
IPA^(key): /ɔw/, /aw/ (after għ; variation is regional and idiolectal)
In inherited words, short u occurs almost exclusively in unstressed syllables. In borrowings, it is a full phoneme and commonly stressed.

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-fifth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

From Arabic وَ (wa), from Proto-Semitic *wa. Cognate with Hebrew וְ־ (wə-).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /u/ (between consonants)
IPA^(key): /w/ (before or after a vowel)
Homophone: hu

Conjunction

and; used to connect words, phrases, etc.
il-kelb u l-qattus ― the dog and the cat

tpejjep u tixrob ― she smokes and drinks
when, as; used after a personal pronoun and followed by an active participle or imperfect verb
huma u reqdin ― when they were sleeping (literally, “they and sleeping”)

aħna u nitkellmu ― when we were talking (literally, “we and we talk”)

Alternative forms

w (superseded representation of the consonantal pronunciation)

Marshallese

Pronunciation

(phonetic) IPA^(key): [wu]
(phonemic) IPA^(key): /wiw/
Bender phonemes:

Noun

u (construct form uin)

(alienable) a fish trap

References

Marshallese–English Online Dictionary

Mauritian Creole

Pronoun

u (informal to)

Alternative spelling of ou

Mezquital Otomi

Alternative forms

ʼų́ (obsolete)

Etymology

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

Noun

salt

Adjective

sweet

Derived terms

References

Andrews, Enriqueta (1950) Vocabulario otomí de Tasquillo, Hidalgo‎^[10] (in Spanish), México, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, pages 36, 76
Hernández Cruz, Luis, Victoria Torquemada, Moisés (2010) Diccionario del hñähñu (otomí) del Valle del Mezquital, estado de Hidalgo (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 45)‎^[11] (in Spanish), second edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 360

Middle Dutch

Etymology 1

From Old Dutch iuwa, from Proto-West Germanic *iuwar.

Determiner

your (plural)
your (singular, informal)

Usage notes

See the usage notes for gi.

Descendants

Dutch: uw
Limburgish: eur

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronoun

accusative/dative of gi

Descendants

Dutch: u

Middle English

Noun

Alternative form of ew

Middle French

Etymology

From Latin u, v.

Letter

u (letter)
v (letter)

Usage notes

u and v were represented by a single character in Middle French, although scholars consider them to be separate letters both in terms of usage and in terms of pronunciation.

Middle High German

Pronoun

(personal pronoun, dative, Central German) Alternative form of iu.

Middle Low German

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /uː/

Pronoun

(personal pronoun, dative, accusative) Alternative form of jû.
(possessive) Alternative form of jû.

Declension

Possessive pronoun:

Norman

Alternative forms

ieil (Guernsey)
yi (Jersey)

Etymology

From Old French ueil, from Vulgar Latin oclus, from Latin oculus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- (“eye; to see”).

Noun

u m (plural uûs or uur)

(France, anatomy) eye

North Frisian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ʊ] (short vowel)
IPA^(key): [uː] (long vowel, spelt uu)

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

A letter of the North Frisian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

In Sylt Frisian, the diphthong ⟨ua⟩ has been lowered to [ɔɐ̯], thus merging with ⟨or⟩.

Norwegian

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /ʉː/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /ʉː/, /ʉ/, /ʊ/

Letter

The twenty-first letter of the Norwegian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Nupe

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /u/, (after /n/ or /m/) /ũ/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-fifth letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Occitan

Noun

u f (plural us)

u (the letter u, U)

Old Czech

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈu/
IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈu/

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *u.

Preposition

denotes approximate location; by, at; with [with genitive]

Descendants

Czech: u

Etymology 2

Preposition

Alternative form of v (often before labial consonants)

References

Jan Gebauer (1903–1916) “u”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Old French

Etymology 1

From Latin ubi.

Adverb

Alternative form of ou (“where”)

Descendants

Middle French: ou
- French: où

Etymology 2

From Latin u, v.

Letter

u (letter)
v (letter)

Usage notes

u and v were represented by a single character in Old French, although scholars consider them to be separate letters both in terms of usage and in terms of pronunciation.

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin ubi.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈu/

Adverb

where
- 13th century, Vindel manuscript, Martín Codax, Mia irmana fremosa, treides comigo (facsimile)

Descendants

Galician: u
Portuguese: u (obsolete)

References

Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “u”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Old Polish

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *u. First attested in the 14th century.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /u/
IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /u/

Preposition

u [with genitive]

denotes approximate location; by, at
denotes subject of action; at
denotes movement away; away, out of
denotes topographic region; in; at, on
denotes property; in the homestead of
denotes position in a group; among, between
denotes possession; in the possession of
with być; creates a possessive phrase meaning "to have"
denotes witness or subject of some action; in front of, on behalf of
denotes opinion; in one's eyes, in one's opinion, according to
denotes person from whom someone receives; from
denotes person being asked or requested; from, of
denotes object to which something belongs; 's
denotes perpetrator or performer of an action to create a passive voice; by
denotes time; during, at the time of

Related terms

Descendants

Polish: u
Silesian: u

References

Boryś, Wiesław (2005) “u”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “u”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

Polish

Pronunciation

Rhymes: -u
Syllabification: u
Homophones: ó, u-, -u, -u-

Etymology 1

The Polish orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the history of Polish orthography article on Wikipedia for more, and u for development of the glyph itself.

Letter

u (upper case U, lower case)

The twenty-seventh letter of the Polish alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

Noun

u n (indeclinable)

u, close back rounded vowel

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Polish u.

Preposition

u [with genitive]

denotes a part belonging to a larger whole; of
palce u nogi ― toes (literally, “fingers of the foot”)
denotes near position; by, at
Synonyms: blisko, koło, niedaleko, opodal, podle, w pobliżu

u drzwi ― at the door

u bram ― at the gates
denotes position with something else; at, by; with; chez
u Kasi ― at Kasia's

u rodziców ― at one's parents

u lekarza ― at the doctor's

u dentysty ― at the dentist's
denotes tutor or doer of an action; at, with; from
denotes someone or something for which something else is named
Near-synonyms: pośród, wpośród, wśród
denotes someone or something about which something may apply; among; in
u mężczyzn ― in men

u dzikich zwierząt ― in wild animals
denotes subject of an action; at

Trivia

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), u is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 103 times in scientific texts, 27 times in news, 53 times in essays, 75 times in fiction, and 141 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 399 times, making it the 122nd most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.

References

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Rhymes: -u

Etymology 1

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-first letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

u m (plural us)

u (name of the letter U, u)

Etymology 2

From Old Galician-Portuguese u, from Latin ubi. Cognate with Galician u, French où, Italian ove and Romanian iuo.

Adverb

(obsolete) where
Synonym: onde

Etymology 3

Article

u m

Eye dialect spelling of o.

Pumpokol

Etymology

From Proto-Yeniseian *aw (/ *ʔu) ("thou").

Pronoun

you (second-person plural subjective)

Synonyms

Romani

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

(International Standard) The twenty-eighth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.
(Pan-Vlax) The twenty-ninth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Romanian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-sixth letter of the Romanian alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

Romansch

Etymology

From Latin aut.

Conjunction

Rumu

Noun

water

References

Rumu-English-Motu dictionary; Rumu (misc)
Transnewguinea.org, citing G. E. MacDonald, The Teberan Language Family, pages 111-121, in The Linguistic Situation in the Gulf District and Adjacent Area, Papua New Guinea (editor K. J. Franklin) (1973)
Karl J. Franklin, Comparative Wordlist 1 of the Gulf District and adjacent areas (1975), page 67

Salar

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *ol.

Pronoun

Third person singular pronoun; he, she, it.

Declension

References

Tenishev, Edhem (1976) “vu”, in Stroj salárskovo jazyká [Grammar of Salar], Moscow
林莲云 [Lin Lianyun] (1985) “u”, in 撒拉语简志 [A Brief History of Salar]‎^[13], Beijing: 民族出版社: 琴書店, →OCLC, page 53
Ma, Chengjun, Han, Lianye, Ma, Weisheng (December 2010) “u”, in 米娜瓦尔艾比布拉 (Minavar Abibra), editor, 撒维汉词典 (Sāwéihàncídiǎn) [Salar-Uyghur-Chinese dictionary] (in Chinese), 1st edition, Beijing, →ISBN, page 362
Yakup, Abdurishid (2002) “u”, in An Ili Salar Vocabulary: Introduction and a Provisional Salar-English Lexicon‎^[14], Tokyo: University of Tokyo, →ISBN, page 41

Scottish Gaelic

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The eighteenth letter of the Scottish Gaelic alphabet, written in the Latin script. It is preceded by t. Its traditional name is ur (“heather”).

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /u/

Etymology 1

See Translingual section.

Alternative forms

(uppercase) U

Letter

u (Cyrillic spelling у)

The 27th letter of the Serbo-Croatian Latin alphabet (gajica), preceded by t and followed by v.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Slavic *vъ(n).

Preposition

u (Cyrillic spelling у)

(+ locative case) in, at (without change of position, answering the question gdjȅ/gdȅ)
biti u školi ― to be in school

u c(ij)elom društvu ― in the whole society
(+ accusative case) to, into (with change of position, answering the question kùda)
ići u školu ― to go to school

putovati u Ameriku ― to travel to America
(+ accusative case) on, in, at, during (in expressions concerning time)
u podne ― at noon

u sr(ij)edu ― on Wednesday

u zoru ― at dawn

U koliko sati? ― At what time?
(+ locative case) in, during (in expressions concerning time)
u jednom danu ― in one day

u mladosti ― during one's youth

Etymology 3

From Proto-Slavic *u.

Preposition

u (Cyrillic spelling у)

(+ genitive case) chez

Sicilian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /u/ (stressed)
IPA^(key): /ʊ/ (unstressed)

Etymology 1

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-first letter of the Sicilian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

From the lenition of lu, from the apheresis of Vulgar Latin *illu, from Latin illum, from ille.

Alternative forms

lu (liquid form)

Article

u m sg (f a, plural i)

(masculine singular definite article) the
Synonym: lu

Usage notes

As for other Romance languages, such as Neapolitan or Portuguese, Sicilian definite articles have undergone a consonant lenition that has led to the phonetic fall of the initial l. The use of this illiquid variant has not yet made the use of liquid variants disappear, but today it is still the prevalent use in speech and writing.
In the case of the production of literary texts, such as singing or poetry, or of formal and institutional texts, resorting to "liquid articles" and "liquid articulated prepositions" confers greater euphony to the text, although it may sound a form of courtly recovery.
Illiquid definite articles can be phonetically absorbed by the following noun. I.e: l'arancinu (liquid) and ârancinu (illiquid).

Inflection

Etymology 3

See etymology 2.

Alternative forms

lu (liquid form)

Pronoun

u m sg (plural i, female a)

(accusative) him
Synonym: lu

U canusci? ― Do you know him?
(accusative) it, this or that thing
Synonym: lu

Quannu tû desi. ― When I gave it to you.

Usage notes

This pronoun can blend in contracted forms with other particles, especially other personal pronominal particles.

Inflection

Silesian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈu/
Rhymes: -u
Syllabification: u

Etymology 1

The Silesian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Silesian language article on Wikipedia for more, and u for development of the glyph itself.

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-ninth letter of the Silesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Polish u.

Preposition

u [with genitive]

denotes approximate location; by, at; with
denotes a part belonging to a larger whole; of
Synonym: przi

Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /u/, /w/

Letter

u (upper case U)

The thirty-first letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Slovak

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *u.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [u]

Preposition

This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {}.

Somali

Preposition

Usage notes

In Somali, prepositions fall before the verb and not before the noun they modify:
u sheeg -- to tell (lit. to call to)

u keen -- to bring to

Spanish

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /u/ [u]
Rhymes: -u
Syllabification: u

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-second letter of the Spanish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

u f (plural úes)

Name of the letter U

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /u/, [u], [w]

Conjunction

Usage notes

Used instead of o when the following word starts with a vowel sound which is pronounced /o/.

Alternative forms

ú (obsolete)

Sumerian

Romanization

Romanization of 𒌋

Swahili

Verb

(dated or literary) positive degree present and gnomic second-person singular of -wa (“you are, thou art”)

Derived terms

u hali gani (“how are you?”)

Swedish

Pronunciation

Letter name

IPA^(key): /ʉː/

Phoneme

IPA^(key): /ʉː/, /ɵ/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-first letter of the Swedish alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish u. Each pronunciation has a different source:

Filipino alphabet pronunciation is influenced by English u.
Abakada alphabet pronunciation is influenced by the Baybayin character ᜂ (o).
Abecedario pronunciation is from Spanish u.

Pronunciation

(Standard Tagalog)
- IPA^(key): /ˈju/ [ˈju] (letter name, Filipino alphabet)
- IPA^(key): /ˈʔu/ [ˈʔu] (letter name, Abakada alphabet, Abecedario)
- IPA^(key): /ˈu/ [ˈu] (phoneme, stressed)
- IPA^(key): /ˈu/ [ˈu] (phoneme, unstressed)
Rhymes: -u
Syllabification: u

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U, Baybayin spelling ᜌᜓ)

The twenty-third letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Filipino alphabet), called yu and written in the Latin script.

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U, Baybayin spelling ᜂ)

The eighteenth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Abakada alphabet), called u and written in the Latin script.
(historical) The twenty-fourth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Abecedario), called u and written in the Latin script.

Noun

u (Baybayin spelling ᜂ)

the name of the Latin-script letter U/u, in the Abakada alphabet
(historical) the name of the Latin-script letter U/u, in the Abecedario

Tlingit

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʊ/

Letter

u (upper case U)

A letter of the Tlingit alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Tolai

Pronoun

Second-person singular pronoun: you (singular)

Declension

Torres Strait Creole

Noun

(eastern dialect) a mature coconut

Usage notes

U is the sixth stage of coconut growth. It is preceded by pes and followed by drai koknat.

Turkish

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-fifth letter of the Turkish alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

Noun

The name of the Latin-script letter U/u.

Turkmen

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /u/, /uː/

Letter

u (upper case U)

The twenty-fifth letter of the Turkmen alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

Tzotzil

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʔu/

Noun

moon
month

Synonyms

(moon): jch'ul me'tik

References

“ˀu(1)” in Laughlin, Robert M. (1975) The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantán. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Uyghur

Letter

Latin (ULY) transcription of ئۇ (u)

Pronoun

Latin (ULY) transcription of ئۇ (u)

Uzbek

Etymology

Inherited from Chagatai او (ʾū /⁠ʾu⁠/), from Proto-Turkic *ol. Cognate with Uyghur ئۇ / u / у; Azerbaijani / о / o, Turkish o; etc.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʔʊ/, [ʔʊ]
Hyphenation: u

Determiner

(distal demonstrative) that, those
Antonyms: bu, shu

u eshik ― that door

Pronoun

u (plural ular)

(distal demonstrative) that
Antonym: bu

U eshik. ― That is a door.
(personal) he, she, it

Declension

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔu˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔʊw˧˧]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔʊw˧˧]

Etymology 1

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

Noun

u • (𡠄)

(Northern Vietnam) mother; mom

Synonyms

mẹ, mợ, mạ, má

Etymology 2

From Proto-Vietic *ʔuː (“hump (of a zebu)”).

Noun

(classifier khối, cục) u • (幽, 𢉾)

a nodule; protuberance; swelling
(oncology, pathology) a tumor; neoplasm

Derived terms

Verb

to get bumpy; to swell

Etymology 3

Noun

(children's games) a game consists of two teams, where the offensive player has to chant ⟨u⟩ during offense

Etymology 4

From Portuguese u.

Noun

The name of the Latin-script letter U/u.

Volapük

Conjunction

Alternative forms

(in front of vowels) ud

Welsh

Alternative forms

(with grave accent to indicate otherwise unpredictable short vowel): ù
(with acute accent to indicate unusually stressed short vowel): ú
(with circumflex to indicate otherwise unpredictable or unusually stressed long vowel or disyllabicity): û
(with diaeresis to indicate disyllabicity): ü

Pronunciation

(North Wales) IPA^(key): /ɨː/
(South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˌiː ˈbeːdɔl/, /ˌiː ˈbɛdɔl/, /ˌiː ˈɡʊpan/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-eighth letter of the Welsh alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script. It is preceded by th and followed by w.

Mutation

u cannot mutate but, being a vowel, does take h-prothesis, for example with the word uchelwydd (“mistletoe”):

Derived terms

Digraph sequences: uw

Noun

u f (plural uau)

The name of the Latin-script letter U/u.

Mutation

Yele

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (upper case U)

A letter of the Yele alphabet.

Derived terms

The digraph ⟨uu⟩ transcribes the long vowel /uː/
The digraph ⟨꞉u⟩ transcribes the nasal vowel /ũ/
The trigraph ⟨꞉uu⟩ transcribes the long nasal vowel /ũː/

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /u/
(letter name): IPA^(key): /ú/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-third letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called ú and written in the Latin script.

Noun

The name of the Latin-script letter U/u.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

(mid-tone): IPA^(key): /ū/
(high-tone): IPA^(key): /ú/

Pronoun

him, her, it (third-person singular object pronoun following a monosyllabic verb with a high-tone /u/)

Pronoun

him, her, it (third-person singular object pronoun following a monosyllabic verb with a low- or mid-tone /u/)

Zou

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /u˧/

Noun

sibling

References

Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, pages 41, 60

Zulu

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

The twenty-first letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.

u

u

Translingual

Etymology 1

Letter

See also

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Symbol

Gallery

See also

English

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Letter

See also

Noun

Alternative forms

Translations

Derived terms

See also

Etymology 2

Pronoun

Derived terms

Adjective

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Derived terms

Acehnese

Pronunciation

Noun

References

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Pronoun

See also

Etymology 2

Determiner

See also

Ajië

Pronunciation

Verb

References

Akkadian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Conjunction

References

Albanian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Alemannic German

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Conjunction

Etymology 2

Adverb

Further reading

Aragonese

Etymology

Conjunction

Aromanian

Etymology

Pronoun

Related terms

Asturian

Etymology 1

Conjunction

Etymology 2

Pronoun

Adverb

Related terms

Azerbaijani

Pronunciation

Letter

See also

Bambara