Join free

y

English · Español · Français · Deutsch · Italiano · Português · 中文 · Tiếng Việt · Română

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.

y¹

  • /ˈwaɪ/ letter, name
  • /j/ phoneme
  • /aɪ/ phoneme
  • /i/ phoneme
  • /ɪ/ phoneme
  • /ə/ phoneme

Sounds like why, Wye, wye

letter Y · ys · y's

  1. letter, lowercase The twenty-fifth letter of the English alphabet, called wy or wye and written in the Latin script.

y²

Where it comes from

Abbreviations.

noun

  1. abbreviation Abbreviation of year Consider the following questions selected from the tests and estimate the proportion of Y8 pupils you would expect to answer correctly.
  2. UK, abbreviation Abbreviation of youth, usually followed by an age appropriate for the content so marked. Y7

adverb

  1. Internet, abbreviation, not comparable, slang Abbreviation of why

particle

  1. abbreviation Abbreviation of yes

Y³

  • /waɪ/

Sounds like wye, why (wine–whine merger) · Rhymes with -aɪ

letter y · Ys · Y's

  1. letter, uppercase The twenty-fifth letter of the English alphabet, called wye and written in the Latin script.
  2. letter, uppercase Used for the Greek letter Υ (Y, “upsilon”).

noun Ys

  1. A figure or mark in the shape of the letter Y.
  2. A Y-shaped object, such as a railroad fork or a support for a telescope; a wye, a bifurcation.
  3. A moth of the genus Plusia, having markings resembling the letter Y.

Y⁴

  • /waɪ/

Sounds like wye, why (wine–whine merger) · Rhymes with -aɪ

Where it comes from

Abbreviations.

interjection

  1. abbreviation Abbreviation of yes

noun Ys

  1. abbreviation Abbreviation of year (In some contexts as YY or YYYY to indicate only the last 2-digits or all 4-digits.)

Y⁵

  • /waɪ/

Sounds like wye, why (wine–whine merger) · Rhymes with -aɪ

Where it comes from

Clippings.

proper noun the Y

  1. Canada, US, abbreviation, clipping Clipping of YMCA or YWCA. He had sat next to Cindy returning from the Y and smelled the chlorine on her. A sodden Band-Aid had clung by a few lingering bits of stickum to her knee.

noun Ys

  1. Canada, US, informal A particular facility run by the YMCA/YWCA. Of course, the audience up here at the Bronx “Y” will probably be a little parochial, but if I make good in the lecture, I might one day end up speaking down at the Lex. Ave. “Y” where great thinkers like Norman Mailer and Seymour Krim are always airing their views.

Y⁶

  • /waɪ/

Sounds like wye, why (wine–whine merger) · Rhymes with -aɪ

Where it comes from

See IJ.

proper noun

  1. obsolete Obsolete form of IJ: a lake (formerly a bay) adjoining the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam, Hol. fortif. on the gulf Y and the Amstel river, 27,000 ho. in the town, nearly as many in the suburbs; 210,000 inh. 1000 rp. 50,000 lm. 6000 sailors; well built, many canals, ground very damp and marshy, very clean streets, […]

Y⁷

  • /waɪ/

Sounds like wye, why (wine–whine merger) · Rhymes with -aɪ

Where it comes from

Unadapted borrowing from French Y.

proper noun

  1. A commune of Somme department, Hauts-de-France region, France.

Translations

Every language

name commune in the Somme department, Hauts-de-France, France

한국어이 i
日本語イ
中文伊村
FrançaisY
РусскийИ I
العربيةإي ʔī

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"y." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/y. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

y. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/y

Chicago

"y." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/y.

BibTeX
@misc{y_2026,
  title = {y},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/y},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}