U
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Translingual
Letter
U (lower case u)
- The twenty-first letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.
See also
Symbol
U
- (chemistry) Symbol for uranium.
- (genetics) IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation for uracil
- (physics) voltage
- (mathematics, statistics) uniform distribution
- (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:
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /juː/
- Rhymes: -uː
Etymology 1
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u, plural Us or U's)
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
Etymology 2
Abbreviation.
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.
Adjective
U (comparative Uer, superlative Uest)
- (chiefly Britain) 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
- 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
- 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.
- [1956], Alan S.C. Ross, “U and non-U,” in Brewer’s Anthology of England and the English, David Milsted
- (British film certificate) Abbreviation of universal. (suitable for all ages)
- (education, espionage, usually in parentheses) Abbreviation of unclassified.
- Abbreviation of united.
- Abbreviation of upper.
Antonyms
- (upper-class): non-U
Preposition
U
Etymology 3
Proper noun
U
- A language belonging to the Austroasiatic language family which is spoken in China.
Synonyms
- P'uman
Further reading
Etymology 4
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.
- 1924, William Montgomery McGovern, To Lhasa in Disguise: A Secret Expedition Through Mysterious Tibet:
Afar
Letter
U
- 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
American Sign Language
Letter

- The letter U
Azerbaijani
Letter
U upper case (lower case u)
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
Dutch
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
Letter
U (capital, lowercase u)
- The twenty-first letter of the Dutch alphabet.
See also
Esperanto
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
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
Finnish
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
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
German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʔuː/
Audio (file)
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
- The twenty-first letter of the German alphabet.
Ido
Letter
U (lower case u)
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
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, f (invariable, lower case u)
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, Î î, 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
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
- 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
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 (upper case, lower case u)
See also
- Letters of the Latvian alphabet:
Malay
Pronunciation
Letter
U
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
Portuguese
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
See also
- (Latin-script letters) letra; A a (Á á, À à, Â â, Ã ã), 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
Romanian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/
Letter
U (capital, lowercase u)
- The twenty-sixth letter of the Romanian alphabet representing the phoneme /u/. Preceded by Ţ and followed by V.
Saanich
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /əw/, /u/
Letter
U
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, W̲, X, X̲, Y, Z, s, ,
Skolt Sami
Pronunciation
- (phoneme) IPA(key): /u/, /w/
Letter
U (lower case u)
See also
- (Latin-script letters) bukva; A a, Â 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
Slovene
Letter
U (capital, lowercase u)
- The 22nd letter of the Slovene alphabet. Preceded by T and followed by V.
Somali
Pronunciation
Letter
U upper case (lower case u)
Usage notes
See also
- (Latin-script letters) ', 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
Spanish
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
- The 22nd letter of the Spanish alphabet.
Turkish
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
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
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)
See also
- (Quốc ngữ letters) chữ; A a (À à, Ả ả, Ã ã, Á á, Ạ ạ), Ă ă (Ằ ằ, Ẳ ẳ, Ẵ ẵ, Ắ ắ, Ặ ặ), Â 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)
Zulu
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)


