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- or off-glide (diphthong), or a weak, fleeting or epenthetic [u].
(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 (in h-dropping dialects), hue (in h-dropping dialects)

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.
I prefer the u in Arial to the one in Times New Roman.

Noun

u (plural ues)

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

Alternative forms

Derived terms

u-turn
u-bolt

Translations

Etymology 2

Pronoun

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

(abbreviation, slang, text messaging, Internet) you (in text messaging and internet conversations)
Take me with u.

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-

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, 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 ― u₃ ši-iq-da-am šu-bi-lam /u šiqdam šūbilam/ ― 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), 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

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

(Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈu/
Rhymes: -u

Etymology 1

Noun

u f (plural us)

the Latin letter U (lowercase u)

Etymology 2

Noun

u m (plural uns)

Derived terms

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

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^[3], 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, second-person singular, subjective) you (polite).
(personal, second-person singular, objective) you (polite).
(personal, second-person singular, objective) thee (dialectal).
(personal, second-person plural, subjective) you (polite).
(personal, second-person plural, objective) you (polite).
(reflexive, second-person singular) thyself (dialectal)
(reflexive, second-person plural) yourselves (dialectal)

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#Dutch|u bent, kunt, wilt, zult]], whereas [[u heeft#Dutch|u heeft]] is commoner than (or at least equally common as) [[u hebt#Dutch|u hebt]].
See also the usage notes at gij.

Inflection

Alternative forms

(Brabantian) a

Synonyms

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

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 [Fala Dictionary]‎^[4], CIDLeS, →ISBN, page 276

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 Swedish, German and Latin. No earlier script is known. See the Wikipedia article on Finnish for more information, and u for 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

From Latin ubi.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈu/

Adverb

(archaic) where, whereby
Synonym: onde
where (interrogative adverb)

Synonym: onde

References

“u” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
“u” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
“u” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

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

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.

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

Rōmaji transcription of う
Rōmaji transcription of ウ

K'iche'

Pronoun

his, her, its

References

Allen J. Christenson, Kʼiche-English dictionary

Lashi

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʔu/

Noun

Verb

to lay an egg

References

Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid‎^[5], Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis)

Latin

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /uː/, [uː]
(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /u/, [uː]

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
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, 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.
when, as; used after a personal pronoun and followed by an active participle or imperfect verb

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^[6] (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)‎^[7] (in Spanish), second edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 360

Middle Dutch

Etymology 1

From Old Dutch iuwa, from Proto-Germanic *izweraz.

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#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, Middle 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

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 French

Etymology 1

From Latin ubi.

Adverb

Alternative form of ou (“where”)

Descendants

Middle French: ou
- French: où

Etymology 2

From Latin [[u, v#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)
  Mia irmana fremoſa treides de grado / ala ygreia de uigo u e o mar leuado / E miraremos las ondas.
  Lovely sister, come willingly / To the church in Vigo, where the sea is up, / And we will gaze at the waves.

Descendants

Galician: u
Portuguese: u (obsolete)

Polish

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Polish u, from Proto-Slavic *u, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *au, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew.

Preposition

u (+ genitive)

at, chez (at the home or workplace of)
u Kasi ― at Kasia's

u rodziców ― at one's parents

u lekarza ― at the doctor's

u dentysty ― at the dentist's
at, by
u drzwi ― at the door

u bram ― at the gates
of (indicates that something forms part of a whole)
palce u nogi ― toes (literally, “fingers of the foot”)
in (indicates that a phenomenon or effect relates to or is observed in a certain person, thing or group)
u mężczyzn ― in men

u dzikich zwierząt ― in wild animals

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 (Lin), 莲云 (Lianyun) (1985), “u”, in 撒拉语简志 [A Brief History of Salar], 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], 1st edition, Beijing, →ISBN, page 362
Yakup, Abdurishid (2002), “u”, in An Ili Salar Vocabulary: Introduction and a Provisional Salar-English Lexicon, Tokyo: University of Tokyo, →ISBN, page 41

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)
(+ accusative case) to, into (with change of position, answering the question kùda)
(+ accusative case) on, in, at, during (in expressions concerning time)
(+ locative case) in, during (in expressions concerning time)

Etymology 3

From Proto-Slavic *u.

Preposition

u (Cyrillic spelling у)

(+ genitive case) chez

Sicilian

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

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

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 2

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

Alternative forms

lu (liquid form)

Pronunciation

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

Pronoun

u m sg (plural i, female a)

(accusative) him

Synonym: lu
(accusative) it, this or that thing
Synonym: lu

Usage notes

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

Inflection

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.

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]
(Castilian)
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 (u)

Swahili

Verb

(uncommon, archaic) you are; thou art
u hali gani? ― how are you doing?

Usage notes

This term is archaic except in the common greeting u hali gani. Along with m and ni it is not conjugated.

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

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/u).
Abecedario pronunciation is from Spanish u.

Pronunciation

Hyphenation: u
(letter name, Filipino alphabet): IPA^(key): /ju/, [jʊ]
(letter name, Abakada alphabet, Abecedario): IPA^(key): /ˈʔu/, [ˈʔʊ]
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /u/, [ʊ]
(phoneme, Spanish-based spellings, before vowels): IPA^(key): /w/, [w]
Rhymes: -u

Letter

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

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

Tausug

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qulu, compare Tagalog ulo.

Noun

head

Derived terms

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

Pronoun

he, she, it

Declension

Pronoun

u (plural ular)

that

Antonym: bu

Determiner

that

Antonym: bu

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔu˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔʊw˧˧]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) 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

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

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

Letter

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

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

Mutation

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

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

Letter

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/)

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

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Etymology 2

Pronoun

Adjective

Derived terms

Etymology 3

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

Pronoun

See also