cu
Translingual edit
Symbol edit
cu
Allentiac edit
Pronoun edit
cu
- I, first-person singular
References edit
- Discovery of a Fragment of the Printed Copy of the Work on the Language of the Millcayac Indians (1913)
- Willem F. H. Adelaar, The Languages of the Andes (2004), citing Luis de Valdiva's work
Aromanian edit
Etymology edit
From Latin cum. Compare Romanian cu.
Preposition edit
cu
Catalan edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
cu f (plural cus)
- The name of the Latin-script letter Q.
Central Mazahua edit
Pronunciation edit
Letter edit
cu (upper case Cu)
- A letter of the Mazahua alphabet.
French edit
Noun edit
cu m (plural cus)
- Alternative spelling of ku
Galician edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Old Galician-Portuguese cuu, from Latin cūlum (“ass”). Cognate with Portuguese cu.
Noun edit
cu m (plural cus)
- (vulgar, anatomy) ass, arse, booty, rear, behind, butt, buttocks
- (vulgar, anatomy) anus
- 1409, J. L. Pensado Tomé, editor, Tratado de Albeitaria, Santiago de Compostela: Centro Ramón Piñeiro, page 93:
- faz cristel de huun canudo longo et groso et meteo no cuu do Cauallo, et parao ao sopee et llançalle por aquel cristel aquella decauçon tibya, et tanto que lla llançares tapa lle o Cuu con estopa ou con pano de gisa que non saya ende a decauçon
- prepare a enema with a long and thick cane and insert it in the anus of the horse, immobilize him and pour by the cane the lukewarm enema, and as soon as you have done that plug the anus with oakum or a cloth, so as the enema doesn't come out
- bottom of a vessel or bottle
Derived terms edit
Etymology 2 edit
Noun edit
cu m
- (name of the letter q): Misspelling of que.
References edit
- “cuu” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
- “cuu” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
- “cu” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
- “cu” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
- “cu” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
Italian edit
Etymology edit
From Latin kū (the name of the letter Q).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
cu m or f (invariable)
- The name of the Latin-script letter Q.; cue
See also edit
Lower Sorbian edit
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
cu
Mandarin edit
Romanization edit
cu
- Nonstandard spelling of cū.
- Nonstandard spelling of cú.
- Nonstandard spelling of cǔ.
- Nonstandard spelling of cù.
Usage notes edit
- Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
Middle English edit
Noun edit
cu (plural ky)
- Alternative spelling of cou
Middle Irish edit
Noun edit
cu m
- Alternative spelling of cú
Millcayac edit
Pronoun edit
cu
- I, first-person singular
References edit
- Discovery of a Fragment of the Printed Copy of the Work on the Language of the Millcayac Indians (1913)
Neapolitan edit
Etymology edit
Preposition edit
cu
Occitan edit
Noun edit
cu f (plural cus)
- cue (the letter q, Q)
Old English edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-West Germanic *kū, from Proto-Germanic *kūz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷōus.
Compare Old Frisian kū, Old Saxon kō, Old Dutch kuo, Old High German kuo, Old Norse kýr.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
cū f (nominative plural cȳ)
- cow
- c. 992, Ælfric, "Of Saint James the Apostle"
- Ān cū wearþ ġebrōht tō þām temple þæt man hīe ġeoffrode.
- A cow was brought to the temple to be sacrificed.
- c. 992, Ælfric, "Of Saint James the Apostle"
Declension edit
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
Portuguese edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese cuu, from Latin cūlum. Compare Galician cu, Spanish and Italian culo, French cul, and Romanian cur.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
cu m (plural cus)
- (vulgar) arse, ass, butt, bum
- (vulgar) arsehole or asshole (anus)
- Synonym: olho do cu, fiofó, tarraqueta
- (Brazil, vulgar) anything or anyone annoying, boring or somewhat bad
- Synonym: cuzão
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Romagnol edit
Noun edit
cu m or f (invariable)
- The name of the Latin-script letter Q.
See also edit
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Latin cum, from Proto-Italic *kom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“next to, at, with, along”).
Pronunciation edit
Preposition edit
cu (+accusative)
- with
- Vreau să vin cu tine.
- I want to come with you.
- with (in the instrumental sense)
- Vin cu bicicleta.
- I come by bicycle.
- Lovesc o oglindă cu ciocanul.
- I hit a mirror with the hammer.
Usage notes edit
Cu is the only preposition (other than very specific uses of pe and la) that can be followed by an articulated noun without any modifier (an adjective or a possessive or demonstrative pronoun, primarily).
References edit
- cu in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)
Romansch edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Conjunction edit
cu
Sicilian edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Latin cum. Compare Italian con.
Pronunciation edit
Preposition edit
cu
Usage notes edit
- When followed by a definite article, cu combines with the article to produce the following combined forms:
cu + article Combined form cu + u cû cu + lu cu lu cu + a câ cu + la cu la cu + i chî cu + li cu li cu + l' cu l'
Related terms edit
Etymology 2 edit
From an inflection of Latin quis. Akin to chi and ca.
Pronoun edit
cu
Spanish edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
- Name of the letter q
Further reading edit
- “cu”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Tagalog edit
Etymology edit
From Spanish cu, the Spanish name of the letter Q/q.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
cu (Baybayin spelling ᜃᜓ)
- (historical) The name of the Latin-script letter Q/q, in the Abecedario.
- Synonym: (in the Filipino alphabet) kyu
Tarantino edit
Etymology edit
Preposition edit
cu
Turkish edit
Pronunciation edit
Interjection edit
cu
Vietnamese edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Proto-Vietic *t-kuː (“dove”); ultimately onomatopoeic. Cognate with Kha Phong təkuː¹. Compare Thai เขา (kǎo), Chinese 鳩 (OC *[k](r)u) (B-S), Burmese ခို (hkui), English coo.
This is the form without both diphthongization and lenition. Also in common use are câu, bồ câu, both with diphthongization. The form gâu (in chim gâu) with both diphthongization and lenition is also attested.
Noun edit
See also edit
Interjection edit
Etymology 2 edit
From etymology 1. For semantic relationship, compare English cock, Chinese 屌 (diǎo), 鳥/鸟 (“bird”), Cantonese 㞗, 鳩/鸠 (“pigeon”), Thai นกเขา (nók-kǎo, “pigeon”). Also see cò, chim.
Noun edit
(classifier con) cu
See also edit
Noun edit
- (colloquial) boy
- Thằng cu đó quậy thật.
- He's one mischievous boy.
- Cu Tí ơi!
- Hey, Ti-boy!
- Ê cu! Lại đây biểu!
- Hey boy! Come here!
Welsh edit
Etymology edit
From Middle Welsh ku, from Proto-Brythonic *kʉβ̃ (compare Breton kuñv), from Proto-Celtic *koimos (“dear, nice”) (compare Old Irish cóem), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóymos (“of the home, belonging to the family”) (compare English home, Lithuanian káimas (“village, countryside”), Sanskrit क्षेम (kṣéma, “basis, foundation”)).
Pronunciation edit
- (North Wales) IPA(key): /kɨː/
- (South Wales) IPA(key): /kiː/
- Homophone: ci (South Wales only)
Adjective edit
cu (feminine singular cu, plural cu, equative cued, comparative cuach, superlative cuaf)
Derived terms edit
Mutation edit
Welsh mutation | |||
---|---|---|---|
radical | soft | nasal | aspirate |
cu | gu | nghu | chu |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
Further reading edit
- R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “cu”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies