mu
English
← lambda |
→ nu | |
Wikipedia article on mu |
Etymology 1
From Ancient Greek μῦ (mû).
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 331: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /muː/, /mjuː/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 331: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /mju/
Noun
mu (countable and uncountable, plural mus)
- The 12th letter of the Modern Greek alphabet.
Derived terms
Translations
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Etymology 2
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Japanese 無 (mu, “nothing, neither yes nor no”)
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 331: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /muː/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 331: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /mjuː/, /muː/
Interjection
mu
- (Zen Buddhism) Neither yes nor no.
- 1974, Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance:
- Mu means "no thing." Like "Quality" it points outside the process of dualistic discrimination. Mu simply says, "No class; not one, not zero, not yes, not no." [...] It's a great mistake, a kind of dishonesty, to sweep nature's mu answers under the carpet.
- 1979, Douglas Hofstadter, Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid:
- Achilles: Oh, but MU is Jōshū’s answer. By saying MU, Jōshū let the other monk know that only by not asking such questions can one know the answer to them.
Tortoise: Jōshū “unasked” the question. […]
Achilles: […] And the answer of “MU” here rejects the premises of the question, which are that one or the other must be chosen.
- Achilles: Oh, but MU is Jōshū’s answer. By saying MU, Jōshū let the other monk know that only by not asking such questions can one know the answer to them.
- 1996, Dan Simmons, "Looking for Kelly Dahl", The Year's Best Science Fiction, page 424:
- "Mu," said Kelly Dahl.
- On one level mu means only yes, but on a deeper level of Zen it was often used by the master when the acolyte asked a stupid, unanswerable or wrongheaded question such as "Does a dog have the Buddha-nature?" The Master would answer only, "Mu," meaning—I say "yes" but mean "no," but the actual answer is: Unask the question.
- 2002, Norman Waddell and Masao Abe, The Heart of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō, page 72:
- The Fifth Patriarch's utterance You say mu [Buddha-nature] because Buddha-nature is emptiness articulates clearly and distinctly the truth that emptiness is not "no". In uttering Buddha-nature-emptiness one does not say "half a pound." One does not say "eight ounces." One says "mu."
- 2010, Joan Price, Sacred Scriptures of the World Religions, page 70:
- A monk once asked Master Joshu, 'Has a dog the Buddha Nature or not?' Joshu said, 'Mu!'
- 1974, Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance:
Noun
mu (uncountable)
- (Zen Buddhism) Nothingness; nonexistence; the illusory nature of reality.
- 2012, Omori, Introduction To Zen Training, →ISBN, page 115:
- That being the case, we should naturally choose to contemplate mu from morning to night, forgetting everything.
- 2012, Dr Robert Wilkinson, Nishida and Western Philosophy, →ISBN:
- Consequently, though mu is mindlike, the likeness to individual consciousness cannot be pushed very far.
- 2013, Sean Murphy & Natalie Goldberg, One Bird, One Stone: 108 Contemporary Zen Stories, →ISBN, page xvii:
- The monk posed to Chaoi-chou a question: Does a dog have a buddha nature or not?" Chao-chou, without a moment's hesitation, answered, “Mu." (Translated as "No.")
- 2013, Maura O'Halloran, Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind, →ISBN:
- If mu is mind, consciousness, it is nothing.
Usage notes
Used to answer a question that if answered with "yes" or "no" would imply something false.
Synonyms
- (nothingness): See also Thesaurus:inexistence
Etymology 3
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Mandarin 畝/亩 (mǔ)
Noun
mu (plural mu)
- A unit of surface area, currently equivalent to 666 and 2/3 meters squared.
- 2007 — Chang Liu, “Peasants and Revolution in Rural China: Rural Political Change in the North China Plain and the Yangzi Delta, 1850-1949”, page 87
- Of 114 village farming families, only ten had more than 30 mu of land and only five had more than 60 mu.
- 2007 — Chang Liu, “Peasants and Revolution in Rural China: Rural Political Change in the North China Plain and the Yangzi Delta, 1850-1949”, page 87
Anagrams
Asturian
Interjection
mu
- moo (sound made by a cow or bull)
Czech
Pronunciation
Pronoun
Synonyms
Extremaduran
Adverb
mu
See also
French
Pronunciation
Noun
mu m (plural mu)
- mu (Greek letter)
Further reading
- “mu”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Hanga Hundi
Noun
mu
- (a) crocodile
Further reading
Ikobi-Mena
Noun
mu (Mena), mụ (Ikobi)
References
- Karl J. Franklin, Comparative Wordlist 1 of the Gulf District and adjacent areas (1975), page 67
Indonesian
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Malay mu, shortened form of kamu, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Malayic *kamu(ʔ), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)kamu, *kamiu, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Austronesian *(i-)kamu, *kamiu.
Pronunciation
Pronoun
mu
Synonyms
Indonesian informal second-person pronouns:
- anta (informal, mainly used by Muslim community)
- antum (informal, mainly used by Muslim community)
- coen (slang, East Java)
- ente (informal, mainly used by Betawi ethnic group)
- kamu (intimate)
- ko, kowe (informal, Java)
- kon, koen (colloquial, East Java)
- lu, lo, loe, elu (informal, mainly used by Betawi ethnic group)
- mika, mike (informal, Eastern Sumatra)
Italian
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -u
Noun
mu m or f (uncountable)
- The name of the letter M
Japanese
Romanization
mu
Jurchen
Noun
mu
References
- Gisaburō Norikura Kiyose, A Study of the Jurchen Language and Script: Reconstruction and Decipherment (1977)
Kituba
Pronoun
mu
Kom (Cameroon)
Etymology 1
Noun
mu
Etymology 2
Adjective
mu
References
- Randy Jones, Provisional Kom - English lexicon (2001, Yaoundé, Cameroon)
Lashi
Verb
mu
References
Malay
Etymology
Shortened form of kamu, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Malayic *kamu(ʔ), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)kamu, *kamiu, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Austronesian *(i-)kamu, *kamiu.
Pronunciation
Pronoun
mu
See also
singular | plural | ||
---|---|---|---|
1st person | standard | saya / ساي aku/ku- / اکو / كو- (informal/towards God) -ku / -كو (informal possessive) hamba / همبا (dated) |
kami / کامي (exclusive) kita orang / كيت اورڠ (informal exclusive) kita / کيت (inclusive) |
royal | beta / بيتا | ||
2nd person | standard | kamu / کامو anda / اندا (formal) | |
engkau/kau- / اڠکاو/ كاو- (informal/towards God) awak / اوق (friendly/older towards younger) -mu / -مو (possessive) |
awak semua / اوق سموا kamu semua / كامو سموا kalian / کالين (informal) kau orang / كاو اورڠ (informal) | ||
royal | tuanku / توانكو | ||
3rd person | standard | dia / دي ia / اي beliau / بلياو (honorific) -nya / -ڽ (possessive) |
mereka / مريک dia orang / دي اورڠ (informal) |
royal | baginda / بݢيندا |
Mandarin
Romanization
mu
- Nonstandard spelling of mū.
- Nonstandard spelling of mú.
- Nonstandard spelling of mǔ.
- Nonstandard spelling of mù.
Usage notes
- Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
Northern Sami
Pronunciation
Pronoun
mū
Polish
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Alternative forms
Pronoun
mu m
Pronoun
mu n
See also
Etymology 2
Onomatopoeic.
Interjection
mu
- moo (sound made by cows and bulls)
Derived terms
Further reading
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -u
Etymology 1
(deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin mūlus (“mule”)
Noun
mu m (plural mus)
Synonyms
Etymology 2
Alternative forms
Interjection
- moo (the call of a cow)
Scottish Gaelic
Etymology
From Old Irish imb (compare Irish um), from Proto-Celtic *ambi (compare Welsh am), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi (“round about, around”). Cognate with Latin ambi-, Sanskrit अभि (abhí, “towards, over, upon”), Old Persian 𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎹 (abiy, “towards, against, upon”), Old High German umbi, Ancient Greek ἀμφί (amphí, “about, around”) and the first part of Old Armenian ամբ-ողջ (amb-ołǰ, “whole”).
Preposition
mu
- about, around
- Bha craobhan mu ghàrradh an taighe. ― There were trees around the house's yard.
- about, concerning
- Bha sinn a' bruidhinn mu làithean san sgoil againn. ― We were talking about our days at school.
- about, approximately
- Bidh a' chuairt a' toirt mu thrì uairean. ― The trip will take about three hours.
Usage notes
- Lenites the following word.
Derived terms
- mu chuairt air (“about”)
- mu chuairt (“around”)
- mu dheidhinn (“concerning”)
- mu dheireadh (“last (adjective); at last”)
- mun cuairt (“around”)
- The following prepositional pronouns:
Personal inflection of mu | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | Person | Simple | Emphatic | ||||||
Singular | 1st | umam | umamsa | ||||||
2nd | umad | umadsa | |||||||
3rd m | uime | uimesan | |||||||
3rd f | uimpe | uimpese | |||||||
Plural | 1st | umainn | umainne | ||||||
2nd | umaibh | umaibhse | |||||||
3rd | umpa | umpasan |
Serbo-Croatian
Pronoun
mu (Cyrillic spelling му)
- to him (clitic dative singular of ȏn (“he”))
- to it (clitic dative singular of òno (“it”))
- (emphatic, possessive, dative) his, of his (clitic dative singular of ȏn (“he”))
- Gdje mu je auto?
- Where is his car?
- (emphatic, possessive, dative) its, of its (clitic dative singular of òno (“it”))
Declension
Singular | Plural | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
nominative | ȏn | òna | òno | òni | òne | òna |
genitive | njȅga, ga | njȇ, je | njȅga, ga | njȋh, ih | njȋh, ih | njȋh, ih |
dative | njȅmu, mu | njȏj, joj | njȅmu, mu | njȉma, im | njȉma, im | njȉma, im |
accusative | njȅga, ga, nj | njȗ, ju, je | njȅga, ga, nj | njȋh, ih | njȋh, ih | njȋh, ih |
vocative | — | — | — | — | — | — |
locative | njȅm, njȅmu | njȏj | njȅm, njȅmu | njȉma | njȉma | njȉma |
instrumental | njȋm, njíme | njȏm, njóme | njȋm, njíme | njȉma | njȉma | njȉma |
Spanish
Etymology 1
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -u
Interjection
mu
- moo (sound of a cow)
Derived terms
Etymology 2
Noun
mu f (plural múes)
Swedish
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ʉː
Interjection
mu
Noun
mu n
See also
Turkish
Particle
mu
- Used to form interrogatives.
- Ona bu soruyu sordun mu?
- Did you ask him/her this question?
- Mutlu musun?
- Are you happy?
- Pikniğe gitmiyor muyuz?
- Aren't we going for a picnic?
- Ona bu soruyu sordun mu?
Usage notes
- Personal suffixes are added to the interrogative particles, as well as the past tense suffixes.
- This form is used when the last vowel of the previous word is "o" or "u". Other forms used with different vowels are: mı?, mi? and mü?
Tzotzil
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Adjective
mu
Etymology 2
Particle
mu
Synonyms
Derived terms
(particles)
References
- “mu(1)”, “mu(2)” in Laughlin, Robert M. (1975) The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantán. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.
- Laughlin, Robert M. [et al.] (1988) The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of Santo Domingo Zinacantán, vol. I. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Vietnamese
Pronunciation
Noun
- pubes, the pubic region
- the shells of some animals
- Synonym: mai
Volapük
Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish muy (“very”).
Adverb
mu
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with homophones
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms derived from Japanese
- English interjections
- en:Buddhism
- English terms with quotations
- English terms derived from Mandarin
- English indeclinable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- English two-letter words
- en:Greek letter names
- Asturian lemmas
- Asturian interjections
- ast:Animal sounds
- Czech terms with IPA pronunciation
- Czech terms with audio links
- Extremaduran lemmas
- Extremaduran adverbs
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- fr:Greek letter names
- Hanga Hundi lemmas
- Hanga Hundi nouns
- Ikobi-Mena lemmas
- Ikobi-Mena nouns
- Indonesian terms derived from Malay
- Indonesian terms derived from Proto-Malayic
- Indonesian terms derived from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian
- Indonesian terms derived from Proto-Austronesian
- Indonesian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Indonesian lemmas
- Indonesian pronouns
- Indonesian informal terms
- Rhymes:Italian/u
- Italian lemmas
- Italian nouns
- Italian uncountable nouns
- Italian masculine nouns
- Italian feminine nouns
- Italian nouns with multiple genders
- Japanese non-lemma forms
- Japanese romanizations
- Jurchen lemmas
- Jurchen nouns
- Kituba lemmas
- Kituba pronouns
- Kom (Cameroon) lemmas
- Kom (Cameroon) nouns
- Kom (Cameroon) adjectives
- Lashi lemmas
- Lashi verbs
- Malay terms derived from Proto-Malayic
- Malay terms derived from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian
- Malay terms derived from Proto-Austronesian
- Malay terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Malay/mu
- Rhymes:Malay/u
- Malay lemmas
- Malay pronouns
- Mandarin non-lemma forms
- Mandarin pinyin
- Mandarin nonstandard forms
- Northern Sami terms with IPA pronunciation
- Northern Sami 1-syllable words
- Northern Sami non-lemma forms
- Northern Sami pronoun forms
- Polish 1-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Polish non-lemma forms
- Polish pronoun forms
- Polish lemmas
- Polish interjections
- Polish terms with multiple etymologies
- Rhymes:Portuguese/u
- Portuguese terms derived from Latin
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese countable nouns
- Portuguese masculine nouns
- Portuguese onomatopoeias
- Portuguese terms with multiple etymologies
- Scottish Gaelic terms inherited from Old Irish
- Scottish Gaelic terms derived from Old Irish
- Scottish Gaelic terms inherited from Proto-Celtic
- Scottish Gaelic terms derived from Proto-Celtic
- Scottish Gaelic terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Scottish Gaelic terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Scottish Gaelic lemmas
- Scottish Gaelic prepositions
- Scottish Gaelic terms with usage examples
- Serbo-Croatian lemmas
- Serbo-Croatian pronouns
- Serbo-Croatian terms with usage examples
- Spanish onomatopoeias
- Rhymes:Spanish/u
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish feminine nouns
- Spanish misspellings
- es:Animal sounds
- Rhymes:Swedish/ʉː
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish interjections
- sv:Animal sounds
- Turkish lemmas
- Turkish particles
- Tzotzil terms with IPA pronunciation
- Tzotzil lemmas
- Tzotzil adjectives
- Tzotzil particles
- Vietnamese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Vietnamese lemmas
- Vietnamese nouns
- Volapük terms borrowed from Spanish
- Volapük terms derived from Spanish
- Volapük lemmas
- Volapük adverbs