hu

See also: Appendix:Variations of "hu"

English

Pronunciation

• Homophones: hue, huh

Pronoun

hu (third-person singular, epicene, nominative case, reflexive huself)

1. (neologism) they (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun, coordinate with gendered pronouns he and she.
   • 2002 January 3, McMahon, Bryan T. quoting Sasha Newborn, “A terrible book”, The Ponchatoula Times, page 7:

     Hu is fond of enigmas, of conundrums, of hieroglyphics; exhibiting in hus solutions of each and all a degree of acumen which appears to the ordinary apprehension preternatural.

   • 2003 October 14, Epstein, Mikhail, “"Hu," from "human," as a gender-neutral pronoun”, Usenet:

     When the lecturer arrives, hu will be speaking on the topic of anonymity.

   • 2005, Jake Shivery, “Why Hu would be a nice word to have”, hupronoun.org, accessed on 2011-10-31:

     As previously mentioned, this can be faintly disenchanting, particularly to someone who feels that hu is already well spoken.

   • 2007 November 29, Mikhail Epstein, “hu”, International Society for Universal Dialog:

     It's the vice-president's job to support the president and take hus place when hu is away.

   • 2008 March, Christoph Hitz, “Hu, Me?”^[1], Mother Jones, ISSN 0362-8841: 

     Maybe, but if his/herstory's any guide, hu has hu work cut out for hu.

2. (neologism) them (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular object pronoun, coordinate with gendered pronouns him and her.
   • 2006, Perry Anderson; Burgess, Glenn, DeLuna, D. N. editor, The Political Imagination in History: Essays Concerning J.G.A. Pocock^[2], Owlworks, ISBN 978-1934084021, page 175:

     One of his favorite metaphors for the historian, drawn from the "Preface" to Hegel's Philosophy of Right, likens hu to the owl of Minerva, whose flight at dusk provided the setting for mature reflection on the day that had passed.

Adjective

hu

1. (neologism) their (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular possessive adjective, coordinate with his and her.
   • 2006 October 1, “He said, she said, hu said”, Los Angeles Times:

     Now, however, the editorial writer has a new weapon in hu arsenal.

   • 2006 November 17, Kyff, Rob, “Hu Joins Heesh As Neutral Pronoun”, Hartford Courant:

     If hu doesn't do hu homework, I will fail hu.

Hyponyms

• (as subject): he, she
• (as object): him, her

Derived terms

• huself

See also

• other attested and proposed gender-neutral pronouns

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Abau

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hu/

Noun

hu

1. water

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Albanian

Alternative forms

• Gheg: hû
  • indef. sg. huni
  • def. pl. hûj

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *skuna, from *skun-o- (compare Norwegian/Faroese skon ‘snout’), from Proto-Indo-European *skeud-. More at hedh.

Noun

hu m (indefinite plural hunj, definite singular huri)

1. wooden post, fencepost
2. stake, picket
3. pole, stilt
4. (colloquial) penis

Related terms

• hundë

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Danish

Interjection

hu

1. An expression of eeriness, horror or a very strong emotion

Etymology

From Old Norse hugr

Noun

hu c (singular definite huen, not used in plural form)

1. inclination, sympathy

Derived terms

• husvale

Verb

hu

1. Imperative of hue.

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Esperanto

Interjection

hu

1. boo!

Derived terms

• hui (“to boo”)

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German

Interjection

hu

1. an exclamation of feeling cold

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Lower Sorbian

Preposition

hu

1. Obsolete spelling of wu.

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Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic هو (huwa)

Alternative forms

• huwa

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uː/

Pronoun

hu

1. he

Inflection

inflected forms of hu

positive	huwa, hu
negative	mhuwiex, mhux
possessive pronoun	tiegħu
basic suffix	-u, -h
direct object suffix	-u, -h
indirect object suffix	-lu

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Mandarin

Romanization

hu

1. Nonstandard spelling of hū.
2. Nonstandard spelling of hú.
3. Nonstandard spelling of hǔ.
4. Nonstandard spelling of hù.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

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Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hwō. Cognate with Old Frisian hū, Old Saxon hū (Dutch hoe), Old High German wuo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /huː/

Adverb

hū

1. how

Conjunction

hū

1. how

Descendants

• English: how

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Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hwō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /huː/

Adverb

hu

1. how

Conjunction

hu

1. how

Synonyms

• hwo