U

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

Translingual

Letter

U (lower case u)

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

See also

• (Latin script):  Aa  Bb  Cc  Dd  Ee  Ff  Gg  Hh  Ii  Jj  Kk  Ll  Mm  Nn  Oo  Pp  Qq  Rr  Sſs  Tt  Uu  Vv  Ww  Xx  Yy  Zz
• (Variations of letter U):  Úú  Ùù  Ŭŭ  Ûû  Ǔǔ  Ůů  Üü  Ǘǘ  Ǜǜ  Ǚǚ  Ǖǖ  Űű  Ũũ  Ṹṹ  Ųų  Ūū  Ṻṻ  Ủủ  Ȕȕ  Ȗȗ  Ưư  Ứứ  Ừừ  Ữữ  Ửử  Ựự  Ụụ  Ṳṳ  Ṷṷ  Ṵṵ  Ʉʉ  ᵾ  ᶙ  ᴜ  Ｕｕ  Ꜷꜷ  Ȣȣ  ᵫ

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

Gallery

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

See also

Other representations of U:

NATO phonetic: Uniform Morse code: ··– Braille: ⠥ ASL Manual: U

Signal flag:

Semaphore:

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English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /juː/
• Rhymes: -uː

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.

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

Abbreviation.

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.

Adjective

U (comparative Uer, superlative Uest)

1. (chiefly British) Characteristic of the upper classes, particularly in use of language.
   • [1956], Alan S.C. Ross, “U and non-U,” in Brewer’s Anthology of England and the English, David Milsted [1]

     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.

   • 1992, Stephan Gramley, Survey of Modern English [2]

     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.

2. (British film certificate) Abbreviation of universal. (suitable for all ages)
4. (education, espionage, usually in parentheses) Abbreviation of unclassified.
5. Abbreviation of united.
6. Abbreviation of upper.

Antonyms

• (upper-class): non-U

Preposition

U

1. 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.

Etymology 3

Proper noun

U

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

Synonyms

• P'uman

Further reading

• Ethnologue entry for U, uuu ⁠

Etymology 4

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.

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Afar

Letter

U

1. The nineteenth letter in the Afar alphabet.

See also

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

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American Sign Language

Letter

(Stokoe U)

1. The letter U

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Azerbaijani

Letter

U upper case (lower case u)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) hərf; A a, B b, C c, Ç ç, D d, E e, Ə ə, F f, G g, Ğ ğ, H h, X x, I ı, İ i, J j, K k, Q q, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ö ö, P p, R r, S s, Ş ş, T t, U u, Ü ü, V v, Y y, Z z

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Dutch

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

• jou
• u

Letter

U (capital, lowercase u)

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

See also

• Previous letter: T
• Next letter: V

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Esperanto

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

• (Latin-script letters) litero; A a, B b, C c, Ĉ ĉ, D d, E e, F f, G g, Ĝ ĝ, H h, Ĥ ĥ, I i, J j, Ĵ ĵ, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, R r, S s, Ŝ ŝ, T t, U u, Ŭ ŭ, V v, Z z

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Finnish

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) kirjain; 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 (Š š), T t, U u, V v (W w), X x, Y y, Z z (Ž ž), Å å, Ä ä, Ö ö

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German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔuː/

• Audio

  (file)

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

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Ido

Letter

U (lower case u)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) litero; 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

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Italian

Pronunciation

• (phoneme; name of letter) IPA^(key): /u/
• (phoneme, when followed by a vowel in the same syllable) IPA^(key): /w/

Letter

U m or f (invariable, lower case u)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) lettera; A a (À à), B b, C c, D d, E e (É é, È è), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì, Πî, J j, K k), L l, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ò ò), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù), V v (W w, X x, Y y), Z z
• Italian alphabet on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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Latin

Etymology

In Latin, the letter U is a modern typographical convention for the vowel form of V. The letter V in ancient times denoted either a vowel or a consonant, see V for more information.

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.

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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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [u]

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

• 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

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Malay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ju]
• IPA^(key): [u]
• IPA^(key): [o]

Letter

U

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) 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

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Portuguese

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) letra; A a (Á á, À à,  â, àã), B b, C c (Ç ç), D d, E e (É é, Ê ê), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í), J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ô ô, Õ õ), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú), V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

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Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

U (capital, lowercase u)

1. The twenty-sixth letter of the Romanian alphabet representing the phoneme /u/. Preceded by Ţ and followed by V.

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Saanich

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əw/, /u/

Letter

U

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A, Á, Ⱥ, B, C, Ć, Ȼ, D, E, H, I, Í, J, K, Ꝁ, Ꝃ, ₭, Ḵ, Ḱ, L, Ƚ, M, N, Ṉ, O, P, Q, S, Ś, T, Ⱦ, Ṯ, Ŧ, U, W, W̱, X, X̱, Y, Z, s, ,

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Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /u/, /w/

Letter

U (lower case u)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bukva; A a,  â, B b, C c, Č č, Ʒ ʒ, Ǯ ǯ, D d, Đ đ, E e, F f, G g, Ǧ ǧ, Ǥ ǥ, H h, I i, J j, K k, Ǩ ǩ, L l, M m, N n, Ŋ ŋ, O o, Õ õ, P p, R r, S s, Š š, T t, U u, V v, Z z, Ž ž, Å å, Ä ä, ʹ

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Slovene

Letter

U (capital, lowercase u)

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

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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

• (Latin-script letters) ʼ, B b, T t, J j, X x, Kh kh, D d, R r, S s, Sh sh, Dh dh, C c, G g, F f, Q q, K k, L l, M m, N n, W w, H h, Y y, A a, E e, I i, O o, U u

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Spanish

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

1. The 22nd letter of the Spanish alphabet.

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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

• (Latin-script letters) harf; A a, B b, C c, Ç ç, D d, E e, F f, G g, Ğ ğ, H h, I ı, İ i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ö ö, P p, R r, S s, Ş ş, T t, U u, Ü ü, V v, Y y, Z z

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Vietnamese

Pronunciation

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

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

• (Quốc ngữ letters) chữ cái; A a (À à, Ả ả, àã, Á á, Ạ ạ), Ă ă (Ằ ằ, Ẳ ẳ, Ẵ ẵ, Ắ ắ, Ặ ặ),  â (Ầ ầ, Ẩ ẩ, Ẫ ẫ, Ấ ấ, Ậ ậ), B b, C c (Ch ch), D d, Đ đ, E e (È è, Ẻ ẻ, Ẽ ẽ, É é, Ẹ ẹ), Ê ê (Ề ề, Ể ể, Ễ ễ, Ế ế, Ệ ệ), G g (Gh gh, Gi gi), H h, I i (Ì ì, Ỉ ỉ, Ĩ ĩ, Í í, Ị ị), K k (Kh kh), L l, M m, N n (Ng ng, Ngh ngh, Nh nh), O o (Ò ò, Ỏ ỏ, Õ õ, Ó ó, Ọ ọ), Ô ô (Ồ ồ, Ổ ổ, Ỗ ỗ, Ố ố, Ộ ộ), Ơ ơ (Ờ ờ, Ở ở, Ỡ ỡ, Ớ ớ, Ợ ợ), P p (Ph ph), Q q (Qu qu), R r, S s, T t (Th th, Tr tr), U u (Ù ù, Ủ ủ, Ũ ũ, Ú ú, Ụ ụ), Ư ư (Ừ ừ, Ử ử, Ữ ữ, Ứ ứ, Ự ự), V v, X x, Y y (Ỳ ỳ, Ỷ ỷ, Ỹ ỹ, Ý ý, Ỵ ỵ)

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Zulu

Letter

U (upper case, lower case u)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) 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