cu
Translingual
Allentiac
References
- 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
Catalan
Central Mazahua
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kʷ/
Galician
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈku/ [ˈku]
- Rhymes: -u
Etymology 1
From Old Galician-Portuguese cuu, from Latin cūlum (“ass”). Cognate with Portuguese cu.
Noun
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
- a tomar polo cu
- cu da agulla
- cu de medo
- cueiro
- lamber o cu
- ollo do cu
References
- “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
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈku/
- Rhymes: -u
- Hyphenation: cù
Lower Sorbian
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [t͡su]
Mandarin
Romanization
cu
Usage notes
- 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 Irish
Millcayac
References
- Discovery of a Fragment of the Printed Copy of the Work on the Language of the Millcayac Indians (1913)
Old English
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *kō (“cow”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kuː/
Noun
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
Portuguese
Etymology
Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese cuu, from Latin cūlum. Compare Galician cu, Spanish and Italian culo, French cul, and Romanian cur.
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈku/
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈku/
- Rhymes: -u
- Hyphenation: cu
Audio (Porto, Portugal) (file) Audio (USA) (file)
Noun
cu m (plural cus)
Derived terms
- cu de Judas
- cu de sono
- cueiro
- cunheta
- cuzão
- cuzinho
- cuzudo
- dar o cu
- olho do cu
- um cu
Related terms
Romagnol
Romanian
Etymology
Inherited from Latin cum, from Proto-Italic *kom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“next to, at, with, along”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ku/
- Rhymes: -u
(file)
Preposition
cu (+accusative)
Usage notes
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
- cu in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)
Romansch
Sicilian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ku/ (Stressed)
- IPA(key): /ku/ (Unstressed)
- Rhymes: -cu
- Hyphenation: cu
Usage notes
- When followed by a definite article, cu combines with the article to produce the following combined forms:
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈku/ [ˈku]
Audio: (file) - Rhymes: -u
- Syllabification: cu
Further reading
- “cu”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Tagalog
Pronunciation
- (Standard Tagalog) IPA(key): /ˈku/ [ˈku]
- Rhymes: -u
- Syllabification: cu
- Homophones: Coo, Cu, Khoo
Noun
cu (Baybayin spelling ᜃᜓ) (historical)
- the name of the Latin-script letter Q/q, in the Abecedario
- Synonym: (in the Filipino alphabet) kyu
Turkish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dʒʊ/
Vietnamese
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ku˧˧]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [kʊw˧˧]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [kʊw˧˧]
Etymology 1
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.
Welsh
Etymology
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
- (North Wales) IPA(key): /kɨː/
- (South Wales) IPA(key): /kiː/
- Homophone: ci (South Wales only)
Derived terms
- mamgu
- tadcu
Mutation
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
- 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