U
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
u¹
- /ˈjuː/
- /ɪʊ̯/ Wales
- /a/ Australia
- /jʉː/ Australia
- /ʉː/ Australia
- /ʊ/ Australia
- /ə/ UK
- /ʌ/ UK
- /juː/ UK
- /uː/ UK
- /ʊ/ UK
- /ə/ Canada, US
- /ʌ/ Canada, US
- /ju/ Canada, US
- /u/ Canada, US
- /ʊ/ Canada, US
- /ə/ South, US
- /ʌ/ South, US
- /ɜ/ South, US
- /juː/ South, US
Sounds like ewe, hew, hue, Hugh (h-dropping), yew, you (not in Wales) · Rhymes with -uː
Where it comes from
From Middle English lower case letter v (also written u), from Old English lower case u, from 7th century replacement by lower case u of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letter ᚢ (u, ur), derived from Raetic letter u.
Before the 1700s, the pointed form v was written at the beginning of a word, while a rounded form u was used elsewhere, regardless of sound. So whereas valor and excuse appeared as in modern printing, have and upon were printed haue and vpon. Eventually, in the 1700s, to differentiate between the consonant and vowel sounds, the v form was used to represent the consonant, and u the vowel sound. v then preceded u in the alphabet, but the order has since reversed.
letter U · us · u's
- The twenty-first letter of the English alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script. I prefer the u in Arial to the one in Times New Roman.
noun ues · you
- The name of the Latin script letter U/u.
- A thing in the shape of the letter U.
u²
pronoun ur · urs · urself · urselves
- Abbreviation of you.you t8k me w u
adjective
- Abbreviation of underwater.underwater
U³
- /juː/
- /jɪʊ̯/ Wales
Rhymes with -uː
letter u · Us · U's
- The twenty-first letter of the English alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.
- A U-turn ('turned a U in the road')
- A double upright cordon espalier (also double U, triple U).
U⁴
- /juː/
- /jɪʊ̯/ Wales
Rhymes with -uː
Where it comes from
An abbreviation of a word or term beginning with the letter U. Adjective sense 1 (“characteristic of the upper classes”) was coined by British linguist Alan S. C. Ross (1907–1980) in a 1954 article, and popularized by the English journalist and writer Nancy Mitford (1904–1973).
noun
- A U-turn. Do a U across the divider and get on back here to the office.
- Abbreviation of university.university
- Abbreviation of Sunday.Sunday
- A film with the film classification U (“universal”).
adjective Uer · Uest
- Abbreviation of upper class (“characteristic of the upper classes, particularly in the use of language”).upper class I may also note here that the U-demarcation is of two types: – (1) a certain U-feature has a different, non-U counterpart as non-U wealthy / U rich; (2) a certain feature is confined to U-speech and it has a counterpart which is not confined to non-U speech e.g. the pronunciations of girl as [ɡɛl],
- Abbreviation of united.united
- Abbreviation of upper.upper
- Usually in parentheses: abbreviation of unclassified.
- Abbreviation of universal (“suitable for all ages”), in a film certificate.universal
U⁵
- /juː/
- /jɪʊ̯/ Wales
Rhymes with -uː
proper noun
- An Austroasiatic language spoken in China.
U⁶
- /juː/
- /jɪʊ̯/ Wales
Rhymes with -uː
Where it comes from
See Ü.
proper noun
- Alternative form of Ü (“Tibetan language”).Ü 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.
U⁷
- /juː/
- /jɪʊ̯/ Wales
Rhymes with -uː
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Burmese ဦး (u:).
noun Us
- An honorific to a Burmese man U Thant; U Nu
