Wu

See also: wu, wú, wù, wū, wǔ, and wu-

English

Etymology 1

From the Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 吳／吴 (Wú).

Proper noun

Wu

1. (historical) Suzhou, a city in southern Jiangsu province in China, whence:
   1. (historical) A county of imperial and Republican China around Suzhou.
   2. (historical) A commandery of imperial China around Suzhou.
2. A historic and cultural region of China around the mouth of the Yangtze River, whence:
   1. The family of Chinese languages spoken in that region, including Shanghainese and Suzhounese, the second-most spoken family after Mandarin.
   2. (historical) The kingdom ruled by the Ji family from Wuxi and then Suzhou during the Spring and Autumn period of China's Zhou dynasty.
   3. A common Chinese surname​:
   4. (historical) The kingdom ruled by the Sun family from Ezhou and Nanjing during the Three Kingdoms interregnum following China's Han dynasty.
   5. (historical) The kingdom ruled by Li Zitong from Yangzhou and Hangzhou during the interregnum following China's Sui dynasty.
   6. (historical) The kingdom ruled by the Yang family from Yangzhou during the Ten Kingdoms interregnum following China's Tang dynasty.
   7. (historical) The kingdom ruled by the Qian family from Hangzhou and Shaoxing during the Ten Kingdoms interregnum following China's Tang dynasty.

Synonyms

• Gusu, Helu City, Suzhou (Suzhou)
• Wuxian, Wu-hsien (county)
• Wujun, Wu-chun (commandery)
• Wu Chinese, Jiangnan, Wuyue, Jiangzhe (language family)
• Gou Wu, Gouwu, Gong Wu, Gongwu (Spring & Autumn Period realm)
• Dong Wu, Dongwu, Eastern Wu, Sun Wu (Three Kingdoms realm)
• Huainan, Hongnong, Southern Wu, Yang Wu (Ten Kingdoms realm ruled from Yangzhou)
• Wuyue (Ten Kingdoms realm ruled from Hangzhou)
• Woo (surname)

Translations

one of the families of the Chinese language

• Arabic: وُو‎‎ m (wū)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 吳語 (zh), 吴语 (zh) (Wúyǔ), 吳方言, 吴方言 (Wú fāngyán)

• Finnish: wu-kiina
• French: wu (fr) m

• Japanese: 呉語 (ja) (ごご, Go-go)
• Korean: 우어 (U-eo)
• Russian: у (ru) m (u)
• Thai: ภาษาจีนอู๋ (paa-săa jeen oo)
• Vietnamese: tiếng Ngô

Chinese surname

• Arabic: وُو‎‎ (wū)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 吳 (zh), 吴 (zh) (Wú), 伍 (Wǔ)

• Finnish: Wu

• Japanese: 吳 (ja) (ご, Go), ウー (Ū)
• Korean: 오 (ko) (O) (吳 (ko)), 우 (ko) (U)
• Russian: У (U)
• Vietnamese: Ngô (吳), Wu

See also

• Suzhounese
• ISO 639-3 code wuu (SIL)
• Ethnologue entry for Wu, wuu
• Wiktionary's coverage of Wu terms

Etymology 2

From the Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 武 (Wǔ, “war, warrior, warlike”).

Proper noun

Wu

1. A Chinese surname​.
2. (historical) An epithet of numerous kings and emperors in Chinese history who were honored with variants of the posthumous name Wuwang or Wudi.

Usage notes

Although the Chinese usage of Wu as a posthumous name is adjectival and should properly be translated — as, e.g., "the Martial Emperor of the Han dynasty" — or treated as an epithet in a similar manner to emperors called after their era names — as, e.g., "the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty" — it is much more common to encounter them in English sources treated as proper names — as, e.g., "Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty" — despite the Chinese meaning nothing of the sort.

Synonyms

• Woo (surname)
• Mo (surname)
• martial, war-like, etc. (royal epithet)

Etymology 3

From the Pinyin romanization of various Mandarin surnames: 伍 (Wǔ), 巫 (Wū), 仵 (Wǔ), 烏／乌 (Wū), 鄔／邬 (Wū).

Proper noun

Wu

1. A Chinese surname​.

Synonyms

• Woo

Etymology 4

From Cantonese 胡 (wu⁴).

Proper noun

Wu

1. A Chinese surname​.

Synonyms

• Woo

Anagrams

• UW

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Tagalog

Etymology

From Mandarin 伍 (Wǔ) and 吳／吴 (Wú).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wuː/

Proper noun

Wu

1. A surname​ of Chinese origin.