mu

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

mu

Wikipedia

Ancient Greek Alphabet

← lambda		→ nu
Μ μ Ancient Greek: μῦ
Wikipedia article on mu

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek μῦ (mû), derived from Phoenician 𐤌𐤌 (mm /⁠mem⁠/, “water”). Doublet of mem.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /muː/, /mjuː/
  • Rhymes: -uː
  • Homophone: moo (first pronunciation only)
  • Homophone: mew (second pronunciation only)
• (General American) IPA^(key): /mju/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -uː
  • Homophone: mew

Noun

mu (countable and uncountable, plural mus)

1. The 12th letter of the Modern Greek alphabet.

Derived terms

• mu-meson, muon
• mu-metal

Translations

Etymology 2

From Japanese 無 (mu, “nothing, neither yes nor no”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /muː/
  • Homophone: moo
• (US) IPA^(key): /mjuː/, /muː/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

  • Homophone: mew (first pronunciation only)
  • Homophone: moo (second pronunciation only)

Interjection

mu

1. (Zen Buddhism) Neither yes nor no.
   • 1974, Robert M[aynard] Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow & Company, →ISBN:

     Mu means "no thing." Like "Quality" it points outside the process of dualistic discrimination. Mu simply says, "No class; not one, not zero, not yes, not no." […] It's a great mistake, a kind of dishonesty, to sweep nature's mu answers under the carpet.

   • 1979, Douglas Hofstadter, Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid:

     Achilles: Oh, but MU is Jōshū’s answer. By saying MU, Jōshū let the other monk know that only by not asking such questions can one know the answer to them.
     Tortoise: Jōshū “unasked” the question. […]
     Achilles: […] And the answer of “MU” here rejects the premises of the question, which are that one or the other must be chosen.

   • 1996, Dan Simmons, “Looking for Kelly Dahl”, in The Year's Best Science Fiction, page 424:

     "Mu," said Kelly Dahl.
     On one level mu means only yes, but on a deeper level of Zen it was often used by the master when the acolyte asked a stupid, unanswerable or wrongheaded question such as "Does a dog have the Buddha-nature?" The Master would answer only, "Mu," meaning—I say "yes" but mean "no," but the actual answer is: Unask the question.

   • 2002, Norman Waddell, Masao Abe, The Heart of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō, page 72:

     The Fifth Patriarch's utterance You say mu [Buddha-nature] because Buddha-nature is emptiness articulates clearly and distinctly the truth that emptiness is not "no". In uttering Buddha-nature-emptiness one does not say "half a pound." One does not say "eight ounces." One says "mu."

   • 2010, Joan Price, Sacred Scriptures of the World Religions, page 70:

     A monk once asked Master Joshu, 'Has a dog the Buddha Nature or not?' Joshu said, 'Mu!'

Noun

mu (uncountable)

1. (Zen Buddhism) Nothingness; nonexistence; the illusory nature of reality.
   • 2012, Omori, Introduction To Zen Training, →ISBN, page 115:

     That being the case, we should naturally choose to contemplate mu from morning to night, forgetting everything.

   • 2012, Dr Robert Wilkinson, Nishida and Western Philosophy, →ISBN:

     Consequently, though mu is mindlike, the likeness to individual consciousness cannot be pushed very far.

   • 2013, Sean Murphy, Natalie Goldberg, One Bird, One Stone: 108 Contemporary Zen Stories, →ISBN, page xvii:

     The monk posed to Chaoi-chou a question: Does a dog have a buddha nature or not?" Chao-chou, without a moment's hesitation, answered, “Mu." (Translated as "No.")

   • 2013, Maura O'Halloran, Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind, →ISBN:

     If mu is mind, consciousness, it is nothing.

Usage notes

Used to answer a question that if answered with "yes" or "no" would imply something false.

Synonyms

• (nothingness): See also Thesaurus:inexistence

See also

• (non-affirmative, non-negative answer): n/a

Etymology 3

From Mandarin 畝／亩 (mǔ).

Noun

mu (plural mu)

1. A unit of surface area, currently equivalent to two-thirtieths of a hectare.
   • , 2nd edition, Peking: Foreign Languages Press, →OCLC, page 72:

     The Lucky Star Co-operative in Chuwo County on the plains of southern Shansi had, before the anti-Japanese war, 26 wells, 4 water-wheels and 166.1 mou of irrigated fields, 4.82 per cent of its total arable land.]

   • , number 131, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, sourced from Wuhan Domestic Service, →OCLC, page DDD 2‎:

     Good news on the summer harvest prevailed in the countryside of Chienchiang County, Hupeh. The county reported remarkable increased in its 600,000 mou of summer food crops this year, surpassing the yield in 1962 which was considered as the best year.]

   • 2004, Peter Ho, “The Wasteland Auction Policy in Northwest China: Solving Environmental Degradation and Rural Poverty?”, in Rural Development in Transitional China: The New Agriculture‎, →ISBN, →ISSN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 125‎:

     Pengyang county was administered by Guyuan before 1988. In contrast to Guyuan, Pengyang is relatively wealthy. Farmers earn a considerable income through tobacco cultivation, which can yield an annual gross income of Rmb 1,500-2,000 per mu. In 1996, the cultivated area of tobacco in Pengyang was 11,000 mu.⁷

   • 2007, Chang Liu, Peasants and Revolution in Rural China: Rural Political Change in the North China Plain and the Yangzi Delta, 1850-1949, page 87:

     Of 114 village farming families, only ten had more than 30 mu of land and only five had more than 60 mu.

Anagrams

• 'um, -um, UM, um, um-

Albanian

Pronoun

mu

1. Dialectal form of mua

Anguthimri

Noun

mu

1. (Mpakwithi) buttocks

References

• Terry Crowley, The Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimri (1981), page 187

Asturian

Interjection

mu

1. moo (sound made by a cow or bull)

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

• Audio

  (file)

Pronoun

mu

1. singular dative masculine of on

   Řekni mu, že jím. ― Tell him, I am eating.

Synonyms

• jemu

Dutch

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μῦ (mû). Doublet of mem and majem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /my/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

mu m (plural mu's, diminutive muutje n)

1. mu (letter of the Greek alphabet)

Further reading

• mu on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

Estonian

Pronoun

mu

1. genitive singular of ma

Usage notes

• Used unstressed in a sentence. When the pronoun is stressed, minu (genitive of mina) is used.

Extremaduran

Adverb

mu

1. very

See also

• muchu

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /my/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

mu m (plural mu)

1. mu (Greek letter)

Participle

mu (feminine mue, masculine plural mus, feminine plural mues)

1. post-1990 spelling of mû

Further reading

• “mu”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Hanga Hundi

Noun

mu

1. (a) crocodile

Further reading

• Hanga Hundi Organised Phonology Data (2011)

Hausa

Etymology

Cognates include Mangas mun, Polci mii, Miship mun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /múː/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key):

Pronoun

mū

1. we (1st person plural pronoun)

Ikobi-Mena

Noun

mu (Mena), mụ (Ikobi)

1. water

References

• Karl J. Franklin, Comparative Wordlist 1 of the Gulf District and adjacent areas (1975), page 67

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mu/

Pronoun

mu

1. (text messaging, informal) Alternative spelling of -mu.

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmu/
• Rhymes: -u
• Hyphenation: mù

Noun

mu m or f (invariable)

1. the name of the letter M

Japanese

Romanization

mu

1. Rōmaji transcription of む
2. Rōmaji transcription of ム

Jingpho

Etymology

Borrowed from Burmese မူး (mu:).

Noun

mu

1. two anna bit

References

• Kurabe, Keita (2016 December 31) “Phonology of Burmese loanwords in Jinghpaw”, in Kyoto University Linguistic Research‎, volume 35, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 91–128

Jurchen

Noun

mu

1. water

References

• Gisaburō Norikura Kiyose, A Study of the Jurchen Language and Script: Reconstruction and Decipherment (1977)

Kituba

Pronoun

mu

1. I

Kom (Cameroon)

Etymology 1

Noun

mu

1. water

Etymology 2

Adjective

mu

1. old

References

• Randy Jones, Provisional Kom - English lexicon (2001, Yaoundé, Cameroon)

Lashi

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mu/

Verb

mu

1. to happen

References

• Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid‎, Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis)

Malay

Etymology

Shortened form of kamu, from Proto-Malayic *kamu(ʔ), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)kamu, *kamiu, from Proto-Austronesian *(i-)kamu, *kamiu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mu/
• Rhymes: -mu, -u

Pronoun

mu

1. you

See also

Mandarin

Romanization

mu

1. Nonstandard spelling of mū.
2. Nonstandard spelling of mú.
3. Nonstandard spelling of mǔ.
4. Nonstandard spelling of mù.

Usage notes

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

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈmuː/

Pronoun

mū

1. accusative/genitive of mun

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Determiner

mu (triggers lenition)

1. Alternative form of mo (“my”)

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mu/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -u
• Syllabification: mu

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• jemu, niemu

Pronoun

mu m

1. dative singular mute of on

Pronoun

mu n

1. dative singular mute of ono

See also

• Appendix:Polish pronouns

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

mu

1. moo (sound made by cows and bulls)

Derived terms

Further reading

• mu in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -u
• Hyphenation: mu

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese muu, from Latin mūlum (“mule”). Doublet of mulo.

Noun

mu m (plural mus)

1. mule

   Synonym: mulo

Related terms

Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek μῦ (mû).

Noun

mu m (plural mus)

1. mu (Greek letter)
2. Synonym of muão, múon (“muon”)

Etymology 3

Onomatopoeic.

Alternative forms

• muu, muuu, etc.

Interjection

mu

1. moo (the call of a cow)

Romanian

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

mu

1. moo (sound made by cows)

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish imb. Cognates include Irish um and Manx mysh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mə/,

Preposition

mu (+ dative, triggers lenition, combined with the singular definite article mun)

1. about, around

   Bha craobhan mu ghàrradh an taighe. ― There were trees around the house's yard.

2. about, concerning

   Bha sinn a' bruidhinn mu làithean san sgoil againn. ― We were talking about our days at school.

3. about, approximately

   Bidh a' chuairt a' toirt mu thrì uairean. ― The trip will take about three hours.

Inflection

Derived terms

Serbo-Croatian

Pronoun

mu (Cyrillic spelling му)

1. to him (clitic dative singular of ȏn (“he”))
2. to it (clitic dative singular of òno (“it”))
3. (emphatic, possessive, dative) his, of his (clitic dative singular of ȏn (“he”))

   Gdje mu je auto?

   Where is his car?

4. (emphatic, possessive, dative) its, of its (clitic dative singular of òno (“it”))

Declension

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmu/
• Rhymes: -u
• Syllabification: mu

Etymology 1

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

mu

1. moo (sound of a cow)

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Noun

mu f (plural múes)

1. Misspelling of mi. (mu, the Greek letter Μ, μ)

Etymology 3

Adverb

mu

1. (slang) Clipping of muy.

Further reading

• “mu”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Sumerian

Romanization

mu

1. Romanization of 𒈬 (mu)

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ʉː

Interjection

mu

1. moo

Noun

mu n

1. moo; the sound of a cow or a bull

See also

• råma

Anagrams

• -um

Tày

Etymology

From Proto-Tai *ʰmuːᴬ (“pig”). Cognate with Thai หมู (mǔu), Northern Thai ᩉ᩠ᨾᩪ, Lao ໝູ (mū), Lü ᦖᦴ (ṁuu), Tai Dam ꪢꪴ, Shan မူ (mǔu), Ahom 𑜉𑜥 (mū), Zhuang mou, Bouyei mul.

Pronunciation

• (Thạch An – Tràng Định) IPA^(key):
• (Trùng Khánh) IPA^(key):

Noun

mu (𤝕, 牳)

1. pig

References

• Hoàng Văn Ma, Lục Văn Pảo, Hoàng Chí (2006) Từ điển Tày-Nùng-Việt [Tay-Nung-Vietnamese dictionary] (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Từ điển Bách khoa Hà Nội

Tooro

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-mòì. Cognate with Kikuyu -mwe and Zulu -nye.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mu/

Numeral

-mu

1. one

   omuntu omu ― one person

2. (in the plural) some

   abantu abamu ― some people

3. (in the plural) same

   abantu abamu ― the same people

Declension

Derived terms

• obumu (“unity”)
• hamu (“together”)

References

1. Kaji, Shigeki (2007) A Rutooro Vocabulary‎, Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), →ISBN, page 145
2. Rubongoya, L. T. (2013) Katondogorozi y'Orunyoro-Rutooro n'Orungereza [Runyoro-Rutooro-English and English-Runyoro-Rutooro dictionary]‎, Kampala: Modrug Publishers, →ISBN, pages 238, 542, 571, 583

Turkish

Particle

mu

1. Used to form interrogatives.

   Ona bu soruyu sordun mu?

   Did you ask him/her this question?

   Mutlu musun?

   Are you happy?

   Pikniğe gitmiyor muyuz?

   Aren't we going for a picnic?

Usage notes

• Personal suffixes are added to the interrogative particles, as well as the past tense suffixes.
• This form is used when the last vowel of the previous word is "o" or "u". Other forms used with different vowels are: mı?, mi? and mü?

Tzotzil

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mu/

Etymology 1

Adjective

mu

1. delicious

Etymology 2

Particle

mu

1. (negation) not

   Mu jna'. ― I do not know him/her/it.

Synonyms

• muk'

Derived terms

(particles)

• mu'yuk

References

• “mu(1)”, “mu(2)” in Laughlin, Robert M. (1975) The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantán. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.
• Laughlin, Robert M. (1988) The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of Santo Domingo Zinacantán, vol. I. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Vietnamese

Etymology

It is not clear which between "pubic region" and "shell" is the more original, although the sense "back" is certainly a derivative.

Compare Zhuang moz.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key):
• (Huế) IPA^(key):
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key):

Noun

mu • (模)

1. pubes, the pubic region
2. (of hands and feet) back

   mu bàn tay ― back of the hand

3. the shells of some animals

   Synonym: mai

Volapük

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish muy (“very”).

Adverb

mu

1. extremely

West Makian

Etymology

Compare Ternate omu (“ripe”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mu/

Verb

mu

1. (stative) to be ripe

Conjugation

Alternative forms

• mo

References

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎, Pacific linguistics

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• mọ (Ọ̀wọ̀, Ìkálẹ̀)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mũ̄/

Verb

mu

1. to drink

   Má mu ọtí tó o bá fẹ́ wakọ̀. ― Don't drink alcohol if you want to drive.

2. to suck

   Ọmọ-ọwọ́ ṣì ń mu ọmú. ― The baby is still sucking breast.

3. to lick (juicy fruits such as oranges, or deserts such as ice cream)

   Ọmọdé ń mu ọsàn. ― The child is licking orange.

4. to smoke

   Kò kí ń mu sìgá. ― She doesn't smoke cigarettes.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mṹ/

Verb

mú

1. to take
2. to catch

   Àwọn ọlọ́pàá ti mú wa o. ― The police have caught us!

   Mo mú bọ́ọ̀lù. ― I caught the ball.

3. to have an effect on (relating to temperature)

   Òtútù ń mú mi. ― I feel cold. (Cold is having an effect on me)

4. (auxiliary verb) to cause something to do something else (must be used with another verb)

   Oògùn yẹn mú mi sùn. ― That drug made me sleep.

   Ó mú mi mumi. ― It made me drink water.

5. to be sharp

   Ọbẹ̀ náà mú. ― That knife is sharp.

Derived terms

• mú wá (“to bring”)
• mú ẹ̀tanú kúrò (“to break down stereotypes”)
• mú dání (“to hold”)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mũ̀/

Verb

mù

1. to be hidden

   Ó mù sábẹ́ igbó. ― It's hidden under the bush.

Etymology 4

Cognates with Yoruba mọ̀

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mũ̀/

Verb

mù

1. (Ijebu) to know

Derived terms

Zou

Verb

mu

1. see

References

• http://www.languageinindia.com/feb2013/zouphonologyfinal.pdf