U

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word U. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word U, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say U in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word U you have here. The definition of the word U will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofU, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: u, û, Ս, Ա, Մ, ∪, and Appendix:Variations of "u"

U U+0055, U
LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U
← T
 		Basic Latin V →
Ｕ U+FF35, Ｕ
FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U
← Ｔ
 		Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms Ｖ →

Translingual

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

From the Etruscan letter 𐌖 (u, “u”), from the Ancient Greek letter Υ (U, “ypsilon”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤅 (w, “waw”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓏲. Doublet of Y and V.

Letter

U (lower case u)

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

See also

Symbol

U

  1. (chemistry) Symbol for uranium.
  2. (genetics) IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation for uracil
  3. (physics) voltage
  4. (mathematics, statistics) uniform distribution
  5. (algebra) unitary group
  6. (linguistics) A wildcard for a rounded vowel or a back vowel
    synonyms: O

Gallery

  • Letter styles
  • Uppercase and lowercase versions of U, in normal and italic type
    Uppercase and lowercase versions of U, in normal and italic type
  • Uppercase and lowercase U in Fraktur
    Uppercase and lowercase U in Fraktur

See also

The template Template:Letter does not use the parameter(s): 
Character=U
Please see Module:checkparams for help with this warning.

Other representations of U:

English

Pronunciation

Letter name
Phoneme
  • See u.

Etymology 1

Letter

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

  1. The twenty-first letter of the English alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.
  2. Something shaped like the letter U:
    1. A U-turn ('turned a U in the road')
    2. (horticulture) A double upright cordon espalier (also double U, triple U).
Coordinate terms
Derived terms

Etymology 2

An abbreviation of a word or term beginning with the letter U. Adjective sense 1 (“characteristic of the upper classes”) was coined by British linguist Alan S. C. Ross (1907–1980) in a 1954 article, and popularized by the English journalist and writer Nancy Mitford (1904–1973).

Noun

U

  1. A U-turn.
    • 2003, Tony Hillerman, The Sinister Pig, →ISBN, page 115:
      Do a U across the divider and get on back here to the office.
  2. Abbreviation of university.
  3. Abbreviation of Sunday.
  4. (UK) A film with the film classification U (“universal”).

Adjective

U (not generally comparable, comparative Uer, superlative Uest)

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
  1. (comparable, chiefly British, dated) Abbreviation of upper class (“characteristic of the upper classes, particularly in the use of language”).
    Antonym: non-U
    • 1954, Alan S[trode] C[ampbell] Ross, “Linguistic Class-indicators in Present-day English”, in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen [Modern Language Communications]‎, volume 55, number 1, Helsinki: Modern Language Society, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 April 2015, page 24:
      I may also note here that the U-demarcation is of two types: – (1) a certain U-feature has a different, non-U counterpart as non-U wealthy / U rich; (2) a certain feature is confined to U-speech and it has a counterpart which is not confined to non-U speech e.g. the pronunciations of girl as [ɡɛl], (? [ɡjɛl]), [ɡæl], [ɡɛəl] are U, but many (perhaps most male) U-speakers, like all non-U-speakers, use the pronunciation [ɡəːl].
    • , Alan S. C. Ross, “U and non-U”, in David Milsted, Brewer’s Anthology of England and the English, page 120:
      To TAKE a bath is non-U against U to HAVE one’s bath.
    • 1956, Nancy Mitford, Noblesse Oblige: an Inquiry into the Identifiable Characteristics of the English Aristocracy:
      In a treatise that still causes ripples in English society, Mitford defined various terms as either U (upper class) or non-U.
    • 1956 February 25, Thought, volume 8, Delhi: Siddhartha Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 16, column 1:
      Pudding when used to mean all sweet dishes at the end of a meal is non-U; the U expression is sweet.
    • 1968 August 21, “U and Non-U Today: 2. Actions”, in New Society: The Social Science Weekly, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 267, column 2:
      A wedding is a great occasion for u/non-u indicators. The u mother will be quietly dressed; the non-u one will be more ostentatious and have a corsage. The u father will be wearing his own morning coat and a carnation. The non-u father will bolster his carnation—on his hired morning coat—with a sprig of fern, and perhaps even carry a pair of grey gloves.
    • 1976, J T. J. Srzednicki, “Structure of Beliefs and Group Structure”, in Elements of Social and Political Philosophy (Melbourne International Philosophy Series; 2), The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →DOI, →ISBN, page 135:
      The U/non-U priority rule will be in accord with servant master-type rules if masters are U and servants are non-U, for then the rules support each other. But since a master who cannot command is not a master, a non-U sergeant must take priority over a U-recruit, the same with impoverished aristocratic chauffeurs working for nouveau-riche plebeian millionaires.
    • 1977, Beverley Nichols, “Toilet-training”, in The Spectator: A Weekly Review of Politics, Literature, Theology, and Art, volume 238, London: F. C. Westley, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 15, column 3:
      Was it all a huge joke … this U and non-U business? Yes and no. John Betjeman assured me that it was. But some jokes have an element of cruelty and a great many sensitive people, particularly women, must have suffered agonies of embarrassment because they were uncertain as to what was 'done,' and what was not.
    • 1992, John Algeo, “Sociolinguistic Attitudes and Issues in Contemporary Britain”, in Tim W Machan, Charles T. Scott, editors, English in Its Social Contexts: Essays in Historical Sociolinguistics (Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics), New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 165:
      The concept of U (for upper-class British usage, as opposed to non-U, or everything else) was introduced by Alan S. C. Ross (1954) and was taken up by Nancy Mitford (1956), becoming for a time something of a parlor game in which the participants tested themselves and everyone else for signs of U and non-U status.
    • 1992, Stephan Gramley, Survey of Modern English, page 38:
      Other, perhaps more contentious generalizations, which nevertheless contain a certain amount of truth, are that afternoon tea is U, starts at four and typically consists of tea, thin sandwiches and cakes.
    • 1993, Philip Pettit, “For Holism, against Atomism”, in The Common Mind: An Essay on Psychology, Society, and Politics, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN; 1st paperback edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1996, →ISBN, part II (Mind and Society), pages 205–206:
      To speak of lavatories is U, of bathrooms non-U; to lay cloth napkins at table is U, to lay paper napkins non-U; and so on through a myriad of equally trivial examples. I assume that there is something distinctively collusive in the way Sloanes use the U-concept: that as they individually decide whether something is U or non-U they look over their shoulders to make sure they stay in step—the community is the authority—rather than looking to the thing itself to see what profile it displays.
    • 2001, Stephan Gramley, The Vocabulary of World English (English Language Series), London: Arnold; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 205:
      For this we must turn to speculations such as those offered in connection with U and non-U English.
    • 2011, David Crystal, “65: Lunch: U or Non-U (19th Century)”, in The Story of English in 100 Words, London: Profile Books, →ISBN, page 171:
      Eventually, as we now know, the present-day use of lunch and dinner became established among the fashionable classes. As the 20th century dawned, the pages of Punch magazine are full of references to business lunches and evening dinner parties. Meanwhile, the lower orders of society continued to use dinner for their midday meal, and so the U/non-U distinction was born. But the story of lunch and dinner is not over yet. Expressions such as lunch-box and packed lunch have reinforced a change of usage among many non-U children, so that they now happily talk about school lunches (though still served by dinner ladies).
  2. (not comparable) Abbreviation of united.
  3. (not comparable) Abbreviation of upper.
  5. (not comparable, education, espionage) Usually in parentheses: abbreviation of unclassified.
  6. (not comparable, UK) In a film certificate: abbreviation of universal (“suitable for all ages”).

Preposition

U

  1. (sports) Abbreviation of under.
    • 2013, Pam Mansell, The Girls of Southend High School 1913-2013: A Century for Women:
      In 1992 Susan Lockhart was Captain of the England U16 Hockey Squad.
  2. Abbreviation of up.
  3. (stenoscript) Abbreviation of under, prefix under-.

Etymology 3

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

Proper noun

U

  1. A language belonging to the Austroasiatic language family which is spoken in China.
Synonyms
Translations
Further reading

Etymology 4

See Ü.

Proper noun

U

  1. Alternative form of Ü (“Tibetan language”)
    • 1924, William Montgomery McGovern, To Lhasa in Disguise: A Secret Expedition Through Mysterious Tibet:
      Among the settled communities of Central Tibet, the Tsang dialect as spoken in Shigatse and the U dialect as spoken in Lhasa hold the field.

Etymology 5

Borrowed from Burmese ဦး (u:).

Noun

U (plural Us)

  1. An honorific to a Burmese man
    U Thant; U Nu

References

  1. ^ Alan S[trode] C[ampbell] Ross (1954) “Linguistic Class-indicators in Present-day English”, in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen [Modern Language Communications]‎, volume 55, number 1, Helsinki: Modern Language Society, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 April 2015, footnote 2, page 21:
    In this article I use the terms upper class (abbreviated: U), correct, proper, legitimate, appropriate (sometimes also possible) and similar expressions (including some containing the word should) to designate usages of the upper class; their antonyms (non-U, incorrect, not proper, not legitimate, etc.) to designate usages which are not upper class. These terms are, of course, used factually and not in reprobation [...]. Normal means common to both U and non-U.
  2. ^ “U, adj. and n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2003; “U, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

Afar

Letter

U

  1. The nineteenth letter in the Afar alphabet.

See also

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

Noun

U (plural U's, diminutive U'tjie)

  1. U

Angami

Letter

U

  1. The seventh letter of the Angami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Azerbaijani

Letter

U upper case (lower case u)

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

See also

Basque

Pronunciation

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

Central Franconian

Etymology

  • /u/ is from Middle High German u in open syllables; in Ripuarian from ū before velars.
  • /uː/ is from ū before non-velars in Ripuarian; from ō in Ripuarian and northern Moselle Franconian; from uo in southern Moselle Franconian.
  • For the origin of /ø/, see Ö. For the origin of /y/, /yː/, see Ü.

Pronunciation

  • (German spelling) IPA(key): (short) /u/, (long) /uː/
  • (Dutch spelling) IPA(key): (open short) /ø/, (closed short) /y/, (long) /yː/

Letter

U

  1. A letter in the German-based alphabet of Central Franconian.
  2. A letter in the Dutch-based alphabet of Central Franconian.

Usage notes

  • In the German-based spelling, /ø/ is represented by Ö, while /y/, /yː/ are represented by Ü (see these).
  • In the Dutch-based spelling, both short /u/ and long /uː/ are written oe. The short vowel is optionally indicated in open syllables by doubling the following consonant: floeppe or floepe.
Doubling of U
  • In the German-based spelling, long u may be doubled to u in the following cases:
    • when it is followed by two or more consonants: Duursch or Dursch;
    • when the German cognate has two vowel letters: Huus or Hus (German Haus);
    • when the German cognate has a short vowel: Fuuder or Fuder (German Futter).
  • In the Dutch-based spelling, both short /y/ and long /yː/ are always written uu in closed syllables, u in open syllables.

Chinese

Etymology 1

From English U. The sense of “university”, is short for university and the sense of “subject failed in examinations” is short for unclassified as written on the results notice.

Pronunciation

Noun

U

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) university (Classifier: 間／间 c)
    KongU [Cantonese]  ―  kong1 ju1   ―  The University of Hong Kong
    讀U／读U [Cantonese]  ―  duk6 ju1   ―  to study at a university
  2. (Hong Kong Cantonese) a failed subject in HKCEE, HKALE or HKDSE (Classifier: 個／个 c)
    拎U [Cantonese]  ―  ling1 ju1   ―  to have a subject failed in HKCEE, HKALE or HKDSE

Etymology 2

From clipping of English CPU.

Pronunciation

Noun

U

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, computing) CPU; central processing unit (Classifier: 粒 c)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation 1

Note:
  • jiu1 - More common in Guangzhou;
  • ju1 - More common in Hong Kong.
Note: Often realised as 1hhieu.
Letter

U

  1. The twenty-first letter of the Latin alphabet.
Derived terms

Pronunciation 2

Letter

U

  1. The twenty-first letter used in Pinyin.
Usage notes
  • The pronunciation above are only used while referring to letters in Pinyin. They are not used in other context (such as English).

Dutch

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /y/
  • Audio(file)

Pronoun

U (personal & reflexive pronoun, capitalized form of u)

  1. (archaic) Second-person singular & plural, objective & subjective: you (polite).

Usage notes

See usage notes at u.

Alternative forms

  • (Brabantian) a

Synonyms

Letter

U (capital, lowercase u)

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

See also

  • Previous letter: T
  • Next letter: V

Esperanto

Pronunciation

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

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.

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

Derived terms

compounds

See also

Symbol

U

  1. (linguistics) Either the vowel u /u/ or y /y/, depending on vowel harmony.

Usage notes

Used in linguistic descriptions in Finnish. For example, a Finnish grammar could use -nUt to refer to the suffix -nut (in e.g. juonut) or -nyt (in e.g. tehnyt).

German

Pronunciation

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

Hungarian

Pronunciation

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony)
singular plural
nominative U U-k
accusative U-t U-kat
dative U-nak U-knak
instrumental U-val U-kkal
causal-final U-ért U-kért
translative U-vá U-kká
terminative U-ig U-kig
essive-formal U-ként U-kként
essive-modal — —
inessive U-ban U-kban
superessive U-n U-kon
adessive U-nál U-knál
illative U-ba U-kba
sublative U-ra U-kra
allative U-hoz U-khoz
elative U-ból U-kból
delative U-ról U-król
ablative U-tól U-któl
non-attributive
possessive - singular 		U-é U-ké
non-attributive
possessive - plural 		U-éi U-kéi
Possessive forms of U
possessor single possession multiple possessions
1st person sing. U-m U-im
2nd person sing. U-d U-id
3rd person sing. U-ja U-i
1st person plural U-nk U-ink
2nd person plural U-tok U-itok
3rd person plural U-juk U-ik

See also

Ido

Letter

U (lower case u)

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

See also

Irish

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

Derived terms

See also

Italian

Italian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia it

Pronunciation

  • (letter name) IPA(key): /ˈu/*
    • Rhymes: -u
    • Hyphenation: Ù
  • (phonemic realization) IPA(key): /ˈu/
  • (phonemic realization when followed by a vowel in the same syllable) IPA(key): /w/

Letter

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

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

See also

Japanese

Etymology

English U, short for unit

Pronunciation

Noun

U(ユー) • (yū) 

  1. (typography, newspapers) a unit in newspaper typesetting, equal to 11 mils, 11⁄1000 in, 1⁄8 倍 (bai) and 1⁄128 段 (dan)

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 (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

Latin

Etymology

Originally took the form of the modern-day V, which is derived from U.

Pronunciation

  • Classical: IPA: short /u/, long /u:/

Letter

U

  1. A letter of the Latin alphabet.

References

  • "U" in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • U in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Latvian

Latvian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia lv

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

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Letter

U

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

Malay

Malay Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ms

Pronunciation

Letter

U

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

See also

Nupe

Pronunciation

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

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

Polish

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

Portuguese

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

Romani

Pronunciation

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

Romanian

Pronunciation

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

Saanich

Pronunciation

Letter

U

  1. The thirty-second letter of the Saanich alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Scottish Gaelic

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

Silesian

Etymology

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 (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

Letter

U (lower case u)

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

See also

Slovene

Slovene Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sl

Letter

U (capital, lowercase u)

  1. The 22nd letter of the Slovene alphabet. Preceded by T and followed by V.

Somali

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /ʉ/, /u/
  • (letter name): IPA(key): /ʔu/

Letter

U upper case (lower case u)

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

Usage notes

  1. The twenty-seventh, and final, letter of the Somali alphabet, which follows Arabic abjad order. It is preceded by O.

See also

Spanish

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

  1. the 22nd letter of the Spanish alphabet

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/,
  • (letter name, Abakada alphabet, Abecedario): IPA(key): /ˈʔu/,
  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /u/,
  • (phoneme, Spanish-based spellings, before vowels): IPA(key): /w/,
  • Rhymes: -u

Letter

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

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

See also

Letter

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

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

Further reading

  • “U”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

Turkish

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

Welsh

Pronunciation

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

  1. The twenty-seventh letter of the Welsh alphabet, called u, u bedol, or u gwpan 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”):
Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal h-prothesis
uchelwydd unchanged unchanged huchelwydd
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

See also

Further reading

  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “U”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

Yoruba

Pronunciation

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

Zulu

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia