U

See also: u, û, Ս, Ա, Մ, ∪, and Appendix:Variations of "u"

U	U+0055, U LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U

← T
[U+0054]

Basic Latin

V →
[U+0056]

Ｕ	U+FF35, Ｕ FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U

← Ｔ
[U+FF34]

Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms

Ｖ →
[U+FF36]

Translingual

English Wikipedia has an article on:

U

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.

Letter

U (lower case u)

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

Symbol

U

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

Gallery

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

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /juː/
Rhymes: -uː

Etymology 1

Letter

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

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

(Latin-script letters) letter; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

Derived terms

U-turn

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,^[1] and popularized by the English journalist and writer Nancy Mitford (1904–1973).^[2]

Noun

U

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.
Abbreviation of university.
Abbreviation of Sunday.

Adjective

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

(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]‎^[2], 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].
- [1956], 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[an] 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[illiam] Machan and 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).
(not comparable) Abbreviation of united.
(not comparable) Abbreviation of upper.
(not comparable, education, espionage) Usually in parentheses: abbreviation of unclassified.
(not comparable, British) In a film certificate: abbreviation of universal (“suitable for all ages”).

Preposition

U

(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.
Abbreviation of up.

Etymology 3

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

Proper noun

U

A language belonging to the Austroasiatic language family which is spoken in China.

Synonyms

P'uman

Etymology 4

See Ü.

Proper noun

U

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.

References

^ Alan S[trode] C[ampbell] Ross (1954) “Linguistic Class-indicators in Present-day English”, in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen [Modern Language Communications]‎^[1], 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.
^ “U, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2003; “U, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Afar

Letter

U

The nineteenth letter in the Afar alphabet.

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /y/

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

Noun

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

U

Angami

Letter

U

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

Azerbaijani

Letter

U upper case (lower case u)

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

Basque

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /u/, [u]

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

Chinese

Etymology 1

From English U, short for university.

Pronunciation

Cantonese (Jyutping): ju¹

Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: ju¹
  - Yale: yū
  - Cantonese Pinyin: ju¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: yu¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /juː⁵⁵/

Noun

U

(Hong Kong Cantonese) university
讀U／读U [Cantonese] ― duk⁶ ju¹ [Jyutping] ― to study at a university

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): yōu (you¹)

(Zhuyin): ㄧㄡ
Cantonese (Jyutping): jiu¹ / ju¹
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): iu

(Teochew, Peng'im): iu⁵
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹ieu

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: yōu
  - Zhuyin: ㄧㄡ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: you
  - Wade–Giles: yu¹
  - Yale: yōu
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: iou
  - Palladius: ю (ju)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /joʊ̯⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: jiu¹ / ju¹
  - Yale: yīu / yū
  - Cantonese Pinyin: jiu¹ / ju¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: yiu¹ / yu¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiːu̯⁵⁵/, /juː⁵⁵/

Note:

jiu1 - More common in Guangzhou;
ju1 - More common in Hong Kong.

Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: iu
  - Tâi-lô: iu
  - Phofsit Daibuun: iw
  - IPA (Xiamen): /iu⁴⁴/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: iu⁵
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: iû
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /iu⁵⁵/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ¹ieu
  - MiniDict: ieu^平
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹ieu
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /iɤ⁵³/

Note: Often realised as 1hhieu.

Letter

U

The twenty-first letter of the Latin alphabet.

Dutch

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:

U

Wikipedia ^nl

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /y/
Audio: (file)

Pronoun

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

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

Usage notes

See usage notes at u.

Alternative forms

(Brabantian) a

Synonyms

jou
u

Letter

U (capital, lowercase u)

The twenty-first letter of the Dutch alphabet.

Esperanto

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /u/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /u/
Audio: (file)
Audio: (file)

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

Finnish

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

German

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʔuː/
Audio: (file)

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

The twenty-first letter of the German alphabet.

Hungarian

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): [ˈu]
(letter name): IPA^(key): [ˈu]

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

Ido

Letter

U (lower case u)

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

Italian

Italian Wikipedia has an article on:

U

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)

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