English Explanatory Dictionary

u

English dictionary entry

Meanings

character
  1. The twenty-first letter of the English alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.
noun
  1. The name of the Latin script letter U/u.
  2. A thing in the shape of the letter U.
pron
  1. Abbreviation of you.
adj
  1. Abbreviation of underwater.
character
  1. The twenty-first letter of the English alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.
  2. Something shaped like the letter U:
  3. A U-turn ('turned a U in the road')
  4. A double upright cordon espalier (also double U, triple U).
noun
  1. A U-turn.
  2. Abbreviation of university.
  3. Abbreviation of Sunday.
  4. A film with the film classification U (“universal”).
adj
  1. Abbreviation of upper class (“characteristic of the upper classes, particularly in the use of language”).
  2. Abbreviation of united.
  3. Abbreviation of upper.
  4. Usually in parentheses: abbreviation of unclassified.
  5. Abbreviation of universal (“suitable for all ages”), in a film certificate.
prep
  1. Abbreviation of under.
  2. Abbreviation of up.
name
  1. An Austroasiatic language spoken in China.
name
  1. Alternative form of Ü (“Tibetan language”).
noun
  1. An honorific to a Burmese man
symbol
  1. A dictionary transcription for the FOOT vowel
  2. An orthographic ⟨u⟩ with a diacritic that marks it as being the NURSE vowel, as in the word "turn".

Pronunciation

/ˈjuː/ /ɪʊ̯/ /a/ /jʉː/ /ʉː/ /ʊ/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ewe.wav en-ca-u.ogg /ə/ /ʌ/ /juː/ /uː/ /ju/ /u/ en-us-u.ogg /ɜ/ /jɪʊ̯/

Word forms

u us u's ues you ur urs urself urselves Uer Uest

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.

Synonyms

P'uman o͝o

Antonyms

non-U

Related words

letter A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z bee cee dee ef gee aitch jay kay el em en pee cue ar ess tee vee double-u ex wye zee zed

Derived words

long u short u U-bolt u-space u-stem u-substitution u-turn u-word fuk u cul8r thank u u-boat U-barrel U-bend U engine U-joint U-M U of Dub U of T U-shaped U-trap U-valley U-ness
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