nu
English
← mu |
→ xi | |
Wikipedia article on nu |
Etymology 1
From Ancient Greek νῦ (nû), name for the letter of the Greek alphabet Ν (N) and ν (n).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /njuː/
- (General American) IPA(key): /nu/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -uː
Noun
nu (countable and uncountable, plural nus)
- The letter of the Greek alphabet Ν (N) and ν (n).
- A measure of constringence in lenses or prisms.
Derived terms
Translations
|
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Yiddish נו (nu).
Pronunciation
Interjection
nu
- (Jewish) An exclamation of surprise, emphasis, doubt, etc.
- (Jewish) Well? (Used as a question to demand an answer from someone reluctant to answer.)
Translations
Etymology 3
Phonetic respelling of new.
Adjective
nu (comparative more nu, superlative most nu)
Derived terms
See also
Anagrams
Ainu
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
Verb
nu (Kana spelling ヌ)
- (transitive) to hear
- (transitive) to sense (a smell)
- (possibly obsolete, transitive, + otta) to ask, enquire
Derived terms
- inu (“to listen”)
Aiwoo
Verb
nu
- to drink
References
- Ross, M. & Næss, Å. (2007) “An Oceanic origin for Äiwoo, the language of the Reef Islands?”, in Oceanic Linguistics, volume 46, number 2. Cited in: "Äiwoo" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271–283.
Ajië
Noun
nu
Albanian
Etymology
From Proto-Albanian *nu, from Proto-Indo-European *nu (“now”). Related to ni. Compare Ancient Greek νῦν (nûn), Old High German nu (“now”).[1]
Adverb
nu
Related terms
References
- ^ Orel, Vladimir E. (1998) “nu”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 301
Alemannic German
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle High German nūn, from Middle High German niuwan, variant of niuwar, from Old High German niwāri. Cognate with German nur.
Alternative forms
Adverb
nu
Etymology 2
From Middle High German nu, from Old High German nu. Cognate with German nun.
Alternative forms
Adverb
nu
Etymology 3
Historical or dialectal variants.
Adverb
nu
- Alternative form of no
Ama
Pronunciation
Noun
nu
Aromanian
Etymology
From Latin nōn. Compare Romanian nu.
Adverb
nu
Interjection
nu
Antonyms
Au
Noun
nu
References
- Scorza, David. Au language word, phrase, clause. Ms. 82pp. (1976)
Blagar
Pronunciation
Numeral
nu
References
- W. A. L. Stokhof, Preliminary notes on the Alor and Pantar languages (East Indonesia) (1975)
- Internet Archive, The Rosetta Project, Blagar Swadesh List
Catalan
Etymology
Inherited from Latin nūdus, from Proto-Indo-European *nogʷós.
Pronunciation
Adjective
nu (feminine nua, masculine plural nus, feminine plural nues)
Derived terms
Dalmatian
Etymology 1
Numeral
nu
Etymology 2
Pronoun
nu
- (second-person plural pronoun) we
Related terms
See also
Danish
Etymology
From Old Norse nú (“now”), from Proto-Germanic *nu (“now”), from Proto-Indo-European *nu (“now”). Cognate with English now.
Pronunciation
Noun
nu n (singular definite nuet, not used in plural form)
Adverb
nu
Synonyms
Conjunction
nu
Dutch
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle Dutch nu, from Old Dutch nū, from Proto-Germanic *nu.
Adverb
nu
- now, at the present moment
- Kom je nu of morgen?
- Will you be coming now or tomorrow?
- now, this time (indicating a certain amount of impatience)
- Wat is er nu weer dan?
- What is it now?
Synonyms
Descendants
Conjunction
nu
- now (that)
- Nu je het zegt, weet ik het weer.
- Now you're saying it, I do remember it.
Etymology 2
From Ancient Greek νῦ (nû). Doublet of noen.
Noun
nu m (plural nu's, diminutive nuutje n)
- n (letter of the Greek alphabet)
Further reading
- nu on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia nl
East Central German
Etymology
From Sorbian or Czech. Cf. no.
Pronunciation
Adverb
nu
Elfdalian
Etymology
From Old Norse nú, from Proto-Germanic *nu. Cognate with Swedish nu.
Adverb
nu
- now, at this time
Esperanto
Etymology
From Russian ну (nu) and German nu, of Slavic origin. Compare Polish no, Latvian nu, Czech no.
Pronunciation
Interjection
nu
- well (filled pause, particularly at the beginning of a response to a question)
- Nu, li diris, ke li ne volas ĉeesti la feston.
- Well, he said he doesn't want to attend the party.
Ewe
Noun
nu
French
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Inherited from Old French nu, from Latin nūdus, from Proto-Indo-European *nogʷós.
Adjective
nu (feminine nue, masculine plural nus, feminine plural nues)
Derived terms
- à main nue / à mains nues
- à l’œil nu
- à poings nus
- cul nu
- demi-nu
- mettre à nu
- nu comme un ver
- pieds nus
- torse nu
- vérité toute nue
Noun
nu m (plural nus)
Descendants
Etymology 2
From Ancient Greek νῦ (nû).
Noun
nu m (plural nu or nus)
- nu (Greek letter)
Further reading
- “nu”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
Galician
Etymology
From Old Galician-Portuguese nuu, from Latin nūdus, from Proto-Indo-European *nogʷós. Cognate with Portuguese nu.
Adjective
nu (feminine núa, masculine plural nus, feminine plural núas)
Related terms
Gaulish
Etymology
From Proto-Celtic *nu, from Proto-Indo-European *nu.
Pronunciation
Adverb
nu
German
Etymology 1
From Middle High German nu, nuo. The form without a final -n remained common in some dialects and was reinforced by German Low German nu, from Middle Low German nû.
Pronunciation
Adverb
nu
- (colloquial) Alternative form of nun
Derived terms
Interjection
nu
- (colloquial) Alternative form of nun
Etymology 2
From a Slavic dialect, probably Sorbian. Compare Czech ano (“yes”), Polish no (“yeah; well”), Russian ну (nu, “yeah; well”). In the sense of a filled pause touching on etymology 1 above.
Pronunciation
Interjection
nu
- (colloquial, regional, Saxony) yes; yeah; expresses agreement or understanding
- (colloquial, regional, Saxony) well; fills pause
Gothic
Romanization
nu
- Romanization of 𐌽𐌿
Italian
Pronunciation
Noun
nu m or f (invariable)
- the name of the letter N
Anagrams
Japanese
Romanization
nu
Kabuverdianu
Etymology
From Portuguese nós.
Pronoun
nu
References
- Gonçalves, Manuel (2015) Capeverdean Creole-English dictionary, →ISBN
Kosraean
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ñiuʀ. Compare Pohnpeian nih, Fijian niu, Tongan niu, Hawaiian niu.
Pronunciation
Noun
nu
Kunigami
Romanization
nu
Lashi
Etymology 1
From Proto-Lolo-Burmese [Term?], from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ŋwa. Cognates include Burmese နွား (nwa:) and Chinese 牛 (niú).
Pronunciation
Noun
nu
Etymology 2
Pronunciation
Adjective
nu
References
- Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid[1], Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis)
Latvian
Particle
nu
Interjection
nu
- well
- Nu, kas notika? ― Well, what happened?
Mandarin
Romanization
nu
- Nonstandard spelling of nú.
- Nonstandard spelling of nǔ.
- Nonstandard spelling of nù.
- Nonstandard spelling of nǘ.
- Nonstandard spelling of nǚ.
- Nonstandard spelling of nǜ.
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.
Mauritian Creole
Pronoun
nu
- Alternative spelling of nou
See also
Middle Dutch
Etymology
From Old Dutch nu, from Proto-Germanic *nu.
Adverb
nu
- now, currently
- 1249, Schepenbrief van Bochoute, Velzeke, eastern Flanders:
- Si maken bekent die nu sien ende wesen selen
- They make known to those who are now and will be
- today
- here
- just now
Descendants
Conjunction
nu
Descendants
Further reading
- “nu”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
- Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “nu (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I
Middle English
Adverb
nu
- Alternative spelling of nou
Muong
Etymology
Cognate with Vietnamese nâu.
Pronunciation
Adjective
nu
- (Mường Bi) brown
Neapolitan
Alternative forms
Etymology
Pronunciation
Article
nu m sg
Norman
Etymology
From Old French nu, from Latin nūdus.
Adjective
nu m
Northern Sami
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
Adverb
nū
Further reading
- Koponen, Eino, Ruppel, Klaas, Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages[2], Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology 1
Noun
nu m (definite singular nuen, indefinite plural nuer, definite plural nuene)
- a trough
Etymology 2
Adverb
nu
Interjection
nu
- Alternative form of nå
Noun
nu n (definite singular nuet, uncountable)
- Alternative form of nå
References
- “nu” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology 1
Noun
nu m (definite singular nuen, indefinite plural nuar, definite plural nuane)
- a trough
Etymology 2
Adverb
nu
Interjection
nu
- Alternative form of no
Noun
nu n (definite singular nuet, uncountable)
- Alternative form of no
References
- “nu” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old Dutch
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *nu.
Adverb
nū
- now
- wat unbidan we nu?
- what are we waiting for now?
Descendants
Further reading
- “nū (I)”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012
Old English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *nū, from Proto-Germanic *nu.
Pronunciation
Adverb
nū
- now
- Iċ eom nū on þǣre cyċenan.
- I'm in the kitchen right now.
- late 10th century, Ælfric, "On the Passion of the Apostles Peter and Paul"
- Nerō cwæþ, "Hwæt is nū, Simōn? Iċ wēne wit sind oferswīðde."
- Nero said, "What is it now, Simon? I think we've been defeated."
- just (in the sense "recently")
- Iċ wæs nū on þǣre cyċenan.
- I was just in the kitchen.
- since
- late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy
- Nū ðū þæt swā openlīce onġiten hæfst, ne þearfe ic nū nauht swīþe ymbe þ swincan þæt ic þē mā be gode recce.
- Since thou hast so clearly understood this, I need not now greatly labour in order that I may instruct thee further concerning good;...
- late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy
- Þȳ iċ wundriġe hwȳ þū ne mæġe onġietan þæt þū eart nū ġīet swīðe ġesǣliġ, nū þū ġīet leofast and eart hāl.
- So I wonder why you can't understand that you're still very lucky, since you're still alive and healthy.
- late 10th century, Ælfric, "The Seven Sleepers"
- Nu ge þam mærum godum offrian nellað, ne beo ge me næfre heonon-forð swa wurðe ne swa leofe swa ge ær wæron...
- Since ye will not offer to the great gods, ye shall never henceforth be to me so worthy nor so dear as ye were before;...
- late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
Conjunction
nū
Old French
Etymology
Adjective
nu m (oblique and nominative feminine singular nue)
Adverb
nu m (feminine nue)
Descendants
Old Saxon
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *nu.
Adverb
nū
Pali
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Sanskrit नु (nu), from Proto-Indo-European *nu.
Particle
nu
Pará Arára
Alternative forms
Noun
nu
References
- 2010, Isaac Costa de Souza, A Phonological Description of “Pet Talk” in Arara (MA), SIL Brazil, page 42.
Phalura
Etymology 1
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
Pronoun
nu (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling نوۡ)
- it
- he
- this one (prox masc nom)
References
- Liljegren, Henrik, Haider, Naseem (2011) Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)[3], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN
Etymology 2
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
Determiner
nu (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling نوۡ)
- this (agr: prox nom masc)
References
Plautdietsch
Adverb
nu
Polish
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
Interjection
nu
See also
Further reading
- nu in Polish dictionaries at PWN
- M. Arcta Słownik ilustrowany języka polskiego/Nu! on the Polish Wikisource.Wikisource pl
Portuguese
Alternative forms
Etymology
Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese nuu, from Latin nūdum. Compare Galician nu, Italian nudo, French nu.
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -u
- Hyphenation: nu
Adjective
nu (feminine nua, masculine plural nus, feminine plural nuas)
Derived terms
Related terms
Romanian
Alternative forms
- ну (nu) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling
Etymology
Inherited from Latin nōn. Compare Aromanian nu.
Pronunciation
Adverb
nu
Usage notes
Romanian features the double negative. Nu is stressed within a normal sentence, but in a double negative construction is left unstressed in favour of the other negative component.
In speech—even in moderately formal contexts—nu is elided before verbs beginning with a, most notably the past perfect auxiliary avea.
Likewise, nu triggers prodelision before words (of any part of speech) beginning with î. Elision and prodelision are orthographically marked with a hyphen where no line break may occur.
In these cases, the syllable following the n of nu takes the sentence stress, which is stronger than the primary stress of the negated word.
Antonyms
References
- nu in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)
Saterland Frisian
Interjection
nu
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *nǫ.
Pronunciation
Conjunction
nu (Cyrillic spelling ну)
Synonyms
Shuar
Determiner
nu
References
- Chicham: Dictionario Enciclopédico Shuar-Castellano
Sicilian
Article
nu m sg
- (indefinite) a, an
Usage notes
Nu is used only before words beginning with the letter z or s and a consonant, like the Italian uno
See also
Sicilian articles | ||
Masculine | Feminine | |
indefinite singular | un, nu | na |
definite singular | lu, û | la, â |
definite plural | li, î | li, î |
South Slavey
Pronunciation
Noun
nu (stem -nu-)
- Ford Liard form of ndu
Inflection
singular | plural | ||
---|---|---|---|
1st person | senué | naxenué | |
2nd person | nenué | ||
3rd person | 1) | — | ginué |
2) | menué | gonué | |
4th person | yenué | ||
reflexive | sp. | ɂedenué | kedenué |
unsp. | denué | ||
reciprocal | — | ɂełenué | |
indefinite | ɂenué | ||
areal | gonué | ||
1) Used when the subject is a group of human beings and the object is singular. 2) Used when the previous condition does not apply. |
References
- Keren Rice (1989) A Grammar of Slave, Berlin, West Germany: Mouton de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 11
Sumerian
Romanization
nu
- Romanization of 𒉡 (nu)
Swedish
Etymology
From Old Norse nú, from Proto-Germanic *nu.
Pronunciation
Adverb
nu (not comparable)
- now, at this moment
References
Tày
Etymology
From Proto-Tai *ʰnuːᴬ. Cognate with Thai หนู (nǔu), Northern Thai ᩉ᩠ᨶᩪ, Lao ໜູ (nū), Tai Dam ꪘꪴ, Lü ᦐᦴ (ṅuu), Shan ၼူ (nǔu), Zhuang nou, Saek หนู่.
Pronunciation
- (Thạch An – Tràng Định) IPA(key): [nu˧˧]
- (Trùng Khánh) IPA(key): [nu˦˥]
Noun
References
Tetum
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *niuʀ.
Noun
nu
Further reading
- Fransiskus Monteiro (1985) Kamus Tetun-Indonesia [Tetum-Indonesian Dictionary] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan
Tok Pisin
Etymology
Adjective
nu
Tooro
Pronunciation
Determiner
-nu
Declension
Noun class | non-copulative | copulative | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
singular | plural | singular | plural | |
1/2 | onu | banu | ngunu | mbanu |
3/4 | gunu | enu | ngunu | nginu |
5/6 | linu | ganu | ndinu | nganu |
7/8 | kinu | binu | nkinu | mbinu |
9/10 | enu | zinu | nginu | nzinu |
11/10 | runu | ndunu | ||
12/14 | kanu | bunu | nkanu | mbunu |
13 | tunu | ntunu | ||
14/6 | bunu | ganu | mbunu | nganu |
15/6 | kunu | nkunu | ||
16 | hanu | mpanu | ||
17 | kunu | |||
18 | munu |
Derived terms
- leero nu (“now, today”)
See also
- -li (“that (distal demonstrative determiner)”)
References
Volapük
Adverb
nu
Derived terms
Wauja
Pronunciation
Pronoun
nu
- me (first-person singular indirect object pronoun)
- Pinyanka nu! Katsa umawiu? Nama!
- Tell me! What did [he] say? Come on!
- Puputatain nu kuapi.
- Give me a little [bit of] cotton thread.
- Pinyanka nu! Katsa umawiu? Nama!
Related terms
- natu (I,me, my, mine)
References
- E. Ireland field notes. Needs to be checked by a native speaker.
Wolof
Pronoun
nu
- we (first-person plural object pronoun)
See also
Zia
Pronoun
nu
Zou
Pronunciation
Noun
nu
References
- Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 45