Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Q

Q

(kū)
,
the seventeenth letter of the English alphabet, has but one sound (that of k), and is always followed by u, the two letters together being sounded like kw, except in some words in which the u is silent. See Guide to Pronunciation, § 249. Q is not found in Anglo-Saxon, cw being used instead of qu; as in cwic, quick; cwen, queen. The name (kū) is from the French ku, which is from the Latin name of the same letter; its form is from the Latin, which derived it, through a Greek alphabet, from the Phœnician, the ultimate origin being Egyptian.
Etymologically, q or qu is most nearly related to a (ch, tch), p, q, and wh; as in cud, quid, L. equus, ecus, horse, Gr. [GREEK], whence E. equine, hippic; L. quod which, E. what; L. aquila, E. eaqle; E. kitchen, OE. kichene, AS. cycene, L. coqu ina.

Webster 1828 Edition

Q

Q

is the seventeenth letter of the English Alphabet; an articulation borrowed from the oriental koph or qoph, Hebrew. It is supposed to be an articulation more deeply guttural than that of K; indeed it might have been pronounced as we pronounce qu; for we observe that in the Latin language, from which the moderns have borrowed the letter, it is always followed by u, as it is in English. This letter is not in the Greek alphabet. This letter is superfluous; for ku or koo, in English, have precisely the same sounds as qu. It is alleged that in expressing q, the cheeks are contracted, and the lips put into a canular form, for the passage of the breath; circumstances which distinguish it from k. This appears to be a mistake. This position of the organs is entirely owing to the following letter u; and kuestion and question are pronounced precisely alike, and with the same configuration of the organs. It appears then that q is precisely k, with this difference in use, that q is always followed by u in English, and k is not. Q never ends an English word.
As a numeral, Q stands for 500, and with a dash above the Q, for 500,000.
Used as an abbreviation, Q stands for quantity, or quantum; as among physicians, q. pl. quantum placet, as much as you please; q s quantum sufficit, as much as is required, or as is sufficient.
Among mathematicians, Q.E.D. stands for quod erat demonstrandum, which was to be demonstrated; Q.E.F. quod erat faciendum, which was to be done.
In English, Q is an abbreviation for question.

Definition 2024

Q

Q


Q U+0051, Q
LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Q
← P
[U+0050] 		Basic Latin R →
[U+0052]
See also: q, -q, Ⴍ, q̃, q̇, Q., and Appendix:Variations of "q"

Translingual

Letter

Q upper case (lower case q)

  1. The seventeenth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.
    Queen, Qualen, Qatarien

See also

Symbol

Q

  1. (biochemistry) IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation for glutamine
  2. (physics) electric charge
  3. (logic, mathematics) Robinson arithmetic

See also

Other representations of Q:

English

Letter

Q ‎(upper case, lower case q, plural Qs or Q's)

  1. The seventeenth letter of the English alphabet, called cue and written in the Latin script.
See also

Number

Q ‎(upper case, lower case q)

  1. The ordinal number seventeenth, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called cue and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kjuː/
  • Rhymes: -uː
  • Homophones: cue, queue, Kew

Abbreviation

Q

  1. question or questions
    Q and A
  2. quarter
  3. (followed by an ayah (verse) number) Quran
  4. (theology) the hypothetical common source (protogospel) of the Gospels of Mark and Luke (from German Quelle, source)
  5. the Q factor in electronics
  6. (astronomy) quasar
  7. (sports) qualified
  8. American Library Association Abbreviation of quarto ‎(“book size”).
  9. (chess) queen
Antonyms
  • (sports): DNQ
  • (science fiction fandom): DNQ
Derived terms

Proper noun

Q

  1. The pseudonym of Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch

American Sign Language

Letter

‎(Stokoe Q)

  1. The letter Q

Azeri

Letter

Q upper case (lower case q)

  1. The seventeenth letter of the Azeri alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Chinese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From English cute.

Adjective

Q

  1. (slang) cute

Etymology 2

From Min Nan 𩚨 (khiū).

Adjective

Q

  1. (slang) chewy

Etymology 3

Euphemistic form of 鳩／鸠 (jiū).

Interfix

Q

  1. (vulgar, Cantonese) ****; bloody; damn
Derived terms
  • 多Q事
  • 多Q餘／多Q余

Etymology 4

From English cue.

Noun

Q

  1. (slang) (snooker) cue
Derived terms

Etymology 5

From English quinella.

Noun

Q

  1. (slang) quinella
Derived terms

Etymology 6

Verb

Q

  1. (slang) to use QQ, the popular Chinese instant messaging program

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA(key): /ky/

Letter

Q ‎(capital, lowercase q)

  1. The seventeenth letter of the Dutch alphabet.

See also

  • Previous letter: P
  • Next letter: R

Finnish

Letter

Q ‎(upper case, lower case q)

  1. The seventeenth letter of the Finnish alphabet, called kuu and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

  • Used only in loanwords. In more established loanwords qu is replaced with kv.

See also

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kuː/
  • Homophone: Kuh
  • Rhymes: -uː

Letter

Q ‎(upper case, lower case q)

  1. The seventeenth letter of the German alphabet.

Ido

Pronunciation

  • (always found before the letter U) IPA(key): /kw/

Letter

Q ‎(lower case q)

  1. The seventeenth letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Italian

Pronunciation

  • (name of letter) IPA(key): /ku/
  • (phoneme, always found before U) IPA(key): /kw/

Letter

Q m, f ‎(invariable, lower case q)

  1. The fifteenth letter of the Italian alphabet, called cu and written in the Latin script.

See also

Latin

Letter

Q

  1. The seventeenth letter of the Latin alphabet

References

Malay

Pronunciation

  • (Name of letter) IPA(key): [kiu], [kju]
  • (Phoneme, Syllable initial) IPA(key): [q], [k]
  • (Phoneme, Syllable final) IPA(key): [k̚]

Letter

Q

  1. The seventeenth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Portuguese

Letter

Q ‎(upper case, lower case q)

  1. The seventeenth letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Saanich

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kʷʼ/

Letter

Q

  1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Saanich alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Somali

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /ɢ/
  • (letter name): IPA(key): /ɢɑːf/

Letter

Q upper case (lower case q)

  1. The fifteenth letter of the Somali alphabet, called qaaf and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

  1. The fifteenth letter of the Somali alphabet, which follows Arabic abjad order. It is preceded by F and followed by K.

See also

Spanish

Letter

Q ‎(upper case, lower case q)

  1. The 18th letter of the Spanish alphabet.

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ku˧˧/, /kwi˧˧/, /kwəː˨˩]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [kʊw˧˧/, /kwɪj˧˧/, /kwəː˧˧]
  • (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [kʊw˧˥/, /wɪj˧˥/, /wəː˨˩]
  • Phonetic: cu, quy, quờ

Letter

Q ‎(upper case, lower case q)

  1. The twenty-first letter of the Vietnamese alphabet, called cu, quy or quờ and written in the Latin script.

See also

q

q


q U+0071, q
LATIN SMALL LETTER Q
← p
[U+0070] 		Basic Latin r →
[U+0072]
See also: Q, -q, գ, զ, q̃, q̇, Q., and Appendix:Variations of "q"

Translingual

Letter

q lower case (upper case Q)

  1. The seventeenth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

See also

Pronunciation

Symbol

q

  1. (IPA) voiceless uvular plosive.
  2. (physics) electrical charge
  3. (physics) heat

Synonyms

  • (electrical charge): Q
  • (heat): Q

See also

Other representations of Q:

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kjuː/
  • Rhymes: -uː
  • Homophones: cue, queue

Letter

q ‎(lower case, upper case Q, plural q's)

  1. The seventeenth letter of the English alphabet, called cue and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

The name of this letter is spelled cue or formerly cu

See also

Number

q ‎(lower case, upper case Q)

  1. The ordinal number seventeenth, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called cue and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

Noun

q

  1. (sports) conditional qualification
  2. question
Related terms

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: worse · safe · main · #979: q · greatly · floor · example

Azeri

Letter

q lower case (upper case Q)

  1. The seventeenth letter of the Azeri alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -y
  • (letter name): IPA(key): /ky/

Letter

q ‎(lower case, upper case Q)

  1. The seventeenth letter of the Dutch alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

  • Previous letter: p
  • Next letter: r

French

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -y
  • (letter name): IPA(key): /ky/

Letter

q ‎(lower case, upper case Q)

  1. The seventeenth letter of the French alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

q m ‎(plural q)

  1. Abbreviation of quintal.

See also

  • Previous letter: p
  • Next letter: r

Greenlandic

Pronunciation

IPA(key): /q/

Letter

q

  1. The thirteenth letter of the Greenlandic alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Ido

Pronunciation

  • (always found before the letter U) IPA(key): /kw/

Letter

q ‎(upper case Q)

  1. The seventeenth letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Italian

Noun

q m, f ‎(invariable)

  1. lowercase form of Q

Latin

Abbreviation

q

  1. Quintus

Letter

q

  1. A letter of the Latin alphabet.

References

  • Q in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
  • q in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

Malay

Letter

q ‎(lower case, upper case Q)

  1. The seventeenth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Norwegian

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA(key): /kʉː/
  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /k/
  • Homophone: ku

Letter

q

  1. The seventeenth letter of the Norwegian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

  • Rare in written Norwegian, only used in a limited number of loanwords.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Letter

q ‎(lower case, upper case Q)

  1. The seventeenth letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Etymology 2

Pronoun

q

  1. (Internet slang, text messaging) Abbreviation of que ‎(“that”).
  2. (Internet slang, text messaging) Abbreviation of quê ‎(“what”).

Spanish

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA(key): /k/
  • (letter name) IPA(key): /ku/

Etymology 1

Letter

q ‎(lower case, upper case Q)

  1. The eighteenth letter of the Spanish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

Pronoun

q

  1. (Internet slang, text messaging) Abbreviation of que ‎(“that”).
  2. (Internet slang, text messaging) Abbreviation of qué ‎(“what”).

Etymology

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