English - Letter

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

1. 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.

See also

• (Latin script letters) letter; Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

Translingual - Etymology 1

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

Translingual - Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Symbol

u

1. (metrology) symbol for unified atomic mass unit
2. (phonetics) Used in the International Phonetic Alphabet and in several romanization systems of non-Latin scripts to represent a close back rounded vowel (IPA^(key): /u/).
3. (physics) up quark

Translingual - See Also

Other representations of U:

• Letter styles

English - Etymology

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.

English - Pronunciation

Letter name

• IPA^(key): /juː/
• Homophones: ewe, yew, you, hew (in h-dropping dialects), hue (in h-dropping dialects)

Phoneme

• (Australia) IPA^(key): /a/, /ʉː/, /ʊ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ʌ/, /uː/, /ʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ʌ/, /u/, /ʊ/

English - Noun

u (plural ues)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) letter; a, bee, cee, dee, e, ef, gee, aitch, i, jay, kay, el, em, en, o, pee, cue, ar, ess, tee, u, vee, double-u, ex, wye, zee/zed ^{(Category: en:Latin letter names)}

Translations

Derived terms

• u-turn
• u-bolt

English - Pronoun

u (second person, singular or plural, nominative or objective)

1. (abbreviation, slang, text messaging, Internet) you (in text messaging and internet conversations)

   Take me with u.

English - Abbreviation

u

1. Underwater.

Derived terms

• u-boat (1)

Afrikaans - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /y/

Afrikaans - Etymology 1

From Dutch u.

Pronoun

u

1. (formal) you (singular, subject and object)

See also

Afrikaans - Etymology 2

From Dutch uw.

Determiner

u

1. (formal) your (singular)

See also

Albanian - Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *wa, from Proto-Indo-European *su̯om.

Albanian - Pronoun

u

1. reflexive pronoun

Aragonese - Conjunction

u

1. or

Asturian - Conjunction

u

1. or

Asturian - Pronoun

u

1. where (relative pronoun)

Asturian - Adverb

u

1. where

Asturian - Related Terms

• ú

Azeri - Letter

u lower case (upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin script letters) hərf; Aa, Bb, Cc, Çç, Dd, Ee, Əə, Ff, Gg, Ğğ, Hh, Xx, Iı, İi, Jj, Kk, Qq, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Üü, Vv, Yy, Zz

Catalan - Etymology 1

Noun

u f (plural us)

1. The Latin letter U (lowercase u).

Catalan - Etymology 2

Noun

u m (plural uns)

1. (cardinal) one

Corsican - Article

u m

1. a, an

Related terms

• una

Czech - Preposition

u + genitive

1. at
2. by

Dutch - Etymology

Originally the accusative/dative form of jij/gij, from Middle Dutch u, from Old Dutch iu, from West Germanic *iwwiz, variant of Proto-Germanic *izwiz, dative/accusative of *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́. Compare West Frisian jo, Low German jo, ju, English you, German euch. The use as a nominative stems from an original genitive uwe edelheid (“your gentlehood”), which was later shortened to U E. and finally to u. See also jou.

Dutch - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /y/

Dutch - Pronoun

u

1. (personal, second-person singular, subjective) you (polite).

   Bent u klaar? — “Are you ready?”

   Bent u er nog? — “Are you still there?”

2. (personal, 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.”

3. (personal, second-person singular, objective) thee (dialectal).

   Ik doe dat wel voor u. — “I’ll do it for thee.”

4. (personal, second-person plural, subjective) you (polite).

   Hebt u die oefening gemaakt? — “Have you prepared that exercise?”

5. (personal, second-person plural, objective) you (polite).

   Ze zullen dat wel voor u doen. — “They’ll do it for you.”

6. (reflexive, second-person singular) thyself (dialectal)

   Gij hebt u niet gewassen. — “Thou hast not washed thyself.”

7. (reflexive, 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.
• See usage notes at gij.

Declension

Dutch - Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-first letter of the Dutch alphabet.

See also

• Previous letter: t
• Next letter: v

Esperanto - Pronunciation

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

Esperanto - Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin script letters) litero; Aa, Bb, Cc, Ĉĉ, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Ĝĝ, Hh, Ĥĥ, Ii, Jj, Ĵĵ, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Ŝŝ, Tt, Uu, Ŭŭ, Vv, Zz

Esperanto - Noun

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

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

See also

• (Latin script letter names) litero; a, bo, co, ĉo, do, e, fo, go, ĝo, ho, ĥo, i, jo, ĵo, ko, lo, mo, no, o, po, ro, so, ŝo, to, u, ŭo, vo, zo ^{(Category: eo:Latin letter names)}

Faroese - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uː/

Faroese - Letter

u (upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin script letters) bókstavur; Aa, Áá, Bb, Dd, Ðð, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Íí, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Óó, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Úú, Vv, Yy, Ýý, Ææ, Øø

Greenlandic - Affix

u

1. to be

   e.g. ilinniartitsisiuuvugut - We are teachers.

Italian - Noun

u m, f (invariable)

1. See under U

Japanese - Romanization

u

1. rōmaji reading of う
2. rōmaji reading of ウ

Latin - Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /uː/

Latin - Noun

ū (indeclinable)

1. The name of the letter V.

Coordinate terms

• (Latin’s names for the letters of its own alphabet): ā (A), bē (B), cē (C), dē (D), ē (E), ef (F), gē (G), hā (H), ī (I), kā (K), el (L), em (M), en (N), ō (O), pē (P), kū (Q), er (R), es (S), tē (T), ū (V), ix / īx / ex (X), ȳ (Y), zēta (Z)

Latin - References

• 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.

Latvian - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [u]

Latvian - Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• Letters of the Latvian alphabet:

  burti: Aa, Āā, Bb, Cc, Čč, Dd, Ee, Ēē, Ff, Gg, Ģģ, Hh, Ii, Īī, Jj, Kk, Ķķ, Ll, Ļļ, Mm, Nn, Ņņ, Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Šš, Tt, Uu, Ūū, Vv, Zz, Žž

Latvian - Noun

u m (invariable)

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

See also

• Latvian letter names:

  a (A), garais ā (Ā), bē (B), cē (C), čē (Č), dē (D), e (E), garais ē (Ē), ef (F), gā (G), ģē (Ģ), hā (H), i (I), garais ī (Ī), jē (J), kā (K), ķē (Ķ), el (L), eļ (Ļ), em (M), en (N), eņ (Ņ), o (O), pē (P), er (R), es (S), eš (Š), tē (T), u (U), garais ū (Ū), vē (V), zē (Z), žē (Ž)

Livonian - Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /u/

Livonian - Letter

u (upper case U)

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

Livonian - See Also

• (Latin script letters) kēratēḑ; Aa, Āā, Ää, Ǟǟ, Bb, Dd, Ḑḑ, Ee, Ēē, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Īī, Jj, Kk, Ll, Ļļ, Mm, Nn, Ņņ, Oo, Ōō, Ȯȯ, Ȱȱ, Õõ, Ȭȭ, Pp, Rr, Ŗŗ, Ss, Šš, Tt, Țț, Uu, Ūū, Vv, Zz, Žž,

Malay - Letter

u

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

See also

• (Latin script letters) Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

Maltese - Etymology

From Semitic. Cognate with Arabic وَ (wa), Hebrew וְ־ (v').

Maltese - Conjunction

u

1. and (used to connect two similar words, phrases, etc.)

Mauritian Creole - Pronoun

u (informal to)

1. Alternative spelling of ou

See also

Norman - Alternative Forms

• ieil (Guernsey)
• yi (Jersey)

Norman - Etymology

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

Norman - Noun

u m (plural uûs or uur)

1. (continental Normandy, anatomy) eye

Norwegian - Pronunciation

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

Norwegian - Letter

u

1. The 21st letter of the Norwegian alphabet

Old French - Etymology

Latin ubi

Old French - Adverb

u

1. (interrogative) where

Old Portuguese - Etymology

From Latin ubi.

Old Portuguese - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈu/

Old Portuguese - Adverb

u

1. 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

Polish - Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *u, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew.

Polish - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [u]

Polish - Preposition

u (+ genitive)

1. at

Polish - External Links

• “u” in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈu/
• Homophone: o

Portuguese - Etymology 1

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

Noun

u m (plural us)

1. u (name of the letter U, u)

Portuguese - Etymology 2

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

Adverb

u

1. (archaic) where
   • 1534, Gil Vicente, Auto de Mofina Mendes:

     […] nam ſey per u

     […] (I) don't know where

Synonyms

• (where): onde

Pumpokol - Etymology

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

Pumpokol - Pronoun

u

1. you (second-person plural subjective)

Synonyms

• úe

Romanian - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

Romanian - Letter

u (lowercase, capital U)

1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Romanian alphabet representing the phoneme /u/. Preceded by ţ and followed by v.

Romansch - Etymology

From Latin aut.

Romansch - Conjunction

u

1. or

Serbo-Croatian - Etymology 1

See Translingual section.

Alternative forms

• (uppercase) U

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (Cyrillic spelling у)

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

Serbo-Croatian - Etymology 2

From Proto-Slavic *u, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

Preposition

u (Cyrillic spelling у)

1. (with locative) in, at (without change of position, answering the question gdjȅ/gdȅ)

   biti u školi — to be in the school

   u c(ij)elom društvu — in the whole society

2. (with accusative) to, into (with change of position, answering the question kùda)

   ići u školu — to go to school

   putovati u Ameriku — to travel to America

3. (with accusative) 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?

4. (with locative) in, during (in expressions concerning time)

   u jednom danu — in one day

   u mladosti — during one's youth

Skolt Sami - Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /u/, /w/

Skolt Sami - Letter

u (upper case U)

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

Skolt Sami - See Also

• (Latin script letters) bukva; Aa, Ââ, Bb, Cc, Čč, Ʒʒ, Ǯǯ, Dd, Đđ, Ee, Ff, Gg, Ǧǧ, Ǥǥ, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ǩǩ, Ll, Mm, Nn, Ŋŋ, Oo, Õõ, Pp, Rr, Ss, Šš, Tt, Uu, Vv, Zz, Žž, Åå, Ää, ˊ

Somali - Preposition

u

1. to
2. for

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

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The 22nd letter of the Spanish alphabet.

Noun

u f (plural úes)

1. Name of the letter U.

Spanish - Etymology 2

Conjunction

u

1. or

Usage notes

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

See also

• e

Swedish - Pronunciation

Letter name

• IPA^(key): /ʉː/

Phoneme

• IPA^(key): /ʉː/, /ɵ/

Swedish - Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

Tolai - Pronoun

u

1. Second-person singular pronoun: you (singular)

Declension

Torres Strait Creole - Noun

u

1. (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)

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

See also

• (Latin script letters) harf; Aa, Bb, Cc, Çç, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Ğğ, Hh, Iı, İi, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Üü, Vv, Yy, Zz

Turkish - Noun

u

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

See also

• (Latin script letter names) harf; a, be, ce, çe, de, e, fe, ge, yumuşak ge, he, ı, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, ö, pe, re, se, şe, te, u, ü, ve, ye, ze ^{(Category: tr:Latin letter names)}

Turkmen - Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /u/, /uː/

Turkmen - Letter

u (upper case U)

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

Turkmen - See Also

• (Latin script letters) harp; Aa, Bb, Çç, Dd, Ee, Ää, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Žž, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Ňň, Oo, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Üü, Ww, Yy, Ýý, Zz,

Uzbek - Pronoun

u (Cyrillic у)

1. Demonstrative pronoun used to indicate a thing that is far away from the speaker. that.
   • U eshik.

     That is a door. / That door.

Vietnamese - Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA ^(key): /ʔu˧˧/
• (Huế) IPA ^(key): /ʔʊw˧˧/
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA ^(key): /ʔʊw˧˥/

Vietnamese - Etymology 1

Noun

u

1. (dialectal, Northern dialects) mother; mom

Synonyms

• mẹ
• mợ
• mạ
• má

Vietnamese - Etymology 2

Noun

(classifier khối) u

1. (medicine) tumor

Derived terms

• u xơ tử cung
• u nang buồng trứng

Related terms

• ung thư

Vietnamese - Etymology 3

Borrowing from Portuguese u

Noun

u

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

Rhyme