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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

U.

The twenty-first letter of the English alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

1 character1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

character/juː//jɪʊ̯/Wales

  1. The twenty-first letter of the English alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

    letter · uppercase

  2. Something shaped like the letter U: A U-turn ('turned a U in the road')

    letter · uppercase

  3. Something shaped like the letter U: A double upright cordon espalier (also double U, triple U).

    letter · uppercase
noun/juː//jɪʊ̯/Wales

  1. A U-turn.

  2. Abbreviation of university.

    abbreviation · alt-of

  3. Abbreviation of Sunday.

    abbreviation · alt-of

  4. A film with the film classification U (“universal”).

    UK
Where this word 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).

adj/juː//jɪʊ̯/Wales

  1. Abbreviation of upper class (“characteristic of the upper classes, particularly in the use of language”).

    UK · abbreviation · alt-of · comparable · dated · not-comparable · usually

  2. Abbreviation of united.

    abbreviation · alt-of · not-comparable · usually

  3. Abbreviation of upper.

    abbreviation · alt-of · not-comparable · usually

  4. Usually in parentheses: abbreviation of unclassified.

    not-comparable · usually

  5. Abbreviation of universal (“suitable for all ages”), in a film certificate.

    UK · abbreviation · alt-of · not-comparable · usually
Where this word 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).

name/juː//jɪʊ̯/Wales

  1. An Austroasiatic language spoken in China.

noun/juː//jɪʊ̯/Wales

  1. An honorific to a Burmese man

    U Thant; U Nu
Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Burmese ဦး (u:).

prep/juː//jɪʊ̯/Wales

  1. Abbreviation of under.

    abbreviation · alt-of

  2. Abbreviation of up.

    abbreviation · alt-of
Where this word 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).

name/juː//jɪʊ̯/Wales

  1. Alternative form of Ü (“Tibetan language”).

    alt-of · alternative
Where this word comes from

See Ü.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.