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Meaning of U

Pronunciation:  yoo, yoo

WordNet Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. [n]  the 21st letter of the Roman alphabet
  2. [n]  a heavy toxic silvery-white radioactive metallic element; occurs in many isotopes; used for nuclear fuels and nuclear weapons
  3. [n]  a nitrogen-containing base found in RNA (but not in DNA) and derived from pyrimidine; pairs with adenine
  4. [adj]  (chiefly British) of or appropriate to the upper classes especially in language use
 
 Websites: 
 
 Synonyms: atomic number 92, upper-class, uracil, uranium
 
 See Also: alphabetic character, letter, letter of the alphabet, metal, metallic element, nucleotide, pitchblende, ribonucleic acid, RNA, Roman alphabet, uraninite, uranium 235, uranium 238

 

 

Webster's 1913 Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
\U\ ([=u]),
the twenty-first letter of the English alphabet, is a cursive
form of the letter V, with which it was formerly used
interchangeably, both letters being then used both as vowels
and consonants. U and V are now, however, differentiated, U
being used only as a vowel or semivowel, and V only as a
consonant. The true primary vowel sound of U, in Anglo-Saxon,
was the sound which it still retains in most of the languages
of Europe, that of long oo, as in tool, and short oo, as in
wood, answering to the French ou in tour. Etymologically U is
most closely related to o, y (vowel), w, and v; as in two,
duet, dyad, twice; top, tuft; sop, sup; auspice, aviary. See
V, also O and Y. See Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect]
130-144.
 

 

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