Y

- 26 dictionary results

–noun, plural Y's or Ys, y's or ys.

the 25th letter of the English alphabet, a semivowel.

any spoken sound represented by the letter Y or y, as in yet, city, or rhythm.

something having the shape of a Y.

EXPAND

a written or printed representation of the letter Y or y.

a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter Y or y.

COLLAPSE

the Y, Informal. the YMCA, YWCA, YMHA, or YWHA.

yen¹ (def. 1).

Symbol.

the 25th in order or in a series, or, when I is omitted, the 24th.

(sometimes lowercase

) the medieval Roman numeral for 150. Compare Roman numerals.

(sometimes lowercase

) Electricity. admittance.

EXPAND

Chemistry. yttrium.

Biochemistry. tyrosine.

COLLAPSE

Symbol, Mathematics.

an unknown quantity.

(in Cartesian coordinates) the y-axis.

a prefix occurring in certain obsolete words (ywis) and especially in archaic past participles: yclad.

Also, i-.

Origin:
Middle English y-, i- (reduced variant a-), Old English ge-, prefix with perfective, intensifying, or collective force; cognate with Old Frisian, Old Saxon ge-, gi-, Gothic ga-, German ge-; compare perhaps Latin com- com-

a native English suffix of adjectives meaning “characterized by or inclined to” the substance or action of the word or stem to which the suffix is attached: juicy; grouchy; rumbly; dreamy.

Also, -ey¹.

Origin:
Old English -ig; cognate with German -ig; compare perhaps Latin -icus, Greek -ikos

a noun-forming suffix with a variety of functions in contemporary English, added to monosyllabic bases to create words that are almost always informal. Its earliest use, probably still productive, was to form endearing or familiar names or common nouns from personal names, other nouns, and adjectives (Billy; Susie; birdie; doggie; granny; sweetie; tummy). the hypocoristic feature is absent in recent coinages, however, which are simply informal and sometimes pejorative (boonies; cabby; groupie; hippy; looie; Okie; preemie; preppy; rookie). Another function of -y² (-ie) is to form from adjectives nouns that denote exemplary or extreme instances of the quality named by the adjective (baddie; biggie; cheapie; toughie), sometimes focusing on a restricted, usually unfavorable sense of the adjective (sharpie; sickie; whitey). A few words in which the informal character of -y² (-ie) has been lost are now standard in formal written English (goalie; movie).

Also, -ie.

Compare -o, -sy.

Origin:
late Middle English (Scots), orig. in names; of uncertain origin; baby and puppy, now felt as having this suffix, may be of different derivation

a suffix of various origins used in the formation of action nouns from verbs (inquiry), also found in other abstract nouns: carpentry; infamy.

Origin:
representing Latin -ia, -ium; Greek -ia, -eia, -ion; French -ie; German -ie

yard; yards.

year; years.

–noun, plural yen.

an aluminum coin and monetary unit of japan, equal to 100 sen or 1000 rin. Symbol: ¥; Abbreviation: Y

a former silver coin of Japan.

Origin:
1870–75; < Japanese (y)en < Chinese yuán yuan

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2011.
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Link To Y

World English Dictionary

y or Y (waɪ)

—n , pl y's, Y's, Ys
1.	the 25th letter of the modern English alphabet
2.	a speech sound represented by this letter, in English usually a semivowel, as in yawn, or a vowel, as in symbol or shy
3.	a. something shaped like a Y
	b. (in combination): a Y-cross

Y or Y

—n

y or Y (waɪ)

—n , pl y's, Y's, Ys
1.	the 25th letter of the modern English alphabet
2.	a speech sound represented by this letter, in English usually a semivowel, as in yawn, or a vowel, as in symbol or shy
3.	a. something shaped like a Y
	b. (in combination): a Y-cross

Y or Y

—n

y

—*symbol for*
1.	the y-axis or a coordinate measured along the y-axis in a Cartesian coordinate system
2.	an algebraic variable

Y

—*symbol for*
1.	any unknown, unspecified, or variable factor, number, person, or thing
2.	chem yttrium
3.	currency
	a. yen
	b. yuan

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Word Origin & History

a late-developing letter in Eng. Called ipsilon in Ger., upsilon in Gk., the Eng. name is of obscure origin. The sound at the beginning of yard, yes, yield, etc. is from O.E. words with initial g- as in got and y- as in yet, which were considered the same sound and often transcribed as a character that looks something like 3 (but with a flat top and lower on the line of text), known as yogh. The system was altered by Fr. scribes, who brought over the continental use of -g- and from the early 1200s used -y- and sometimes -gh- to replace 3. There's a good, in-depth discussion of yogh here. As short for YMCA, YWCA, YMHA first recorded 1915.

yen

"sharp desire, hunger," 1906, earlier yin "intense craving for opium" (1876), from Chinese (Cantonese) yan "craving," or from a Beijing dialect word for "smoke." Reinforced in Eng. by influence of yearn.

perfective prefix, in y-clept, etc.; a deliberate archaism, introduced by Spenser and his imitators, representing an authentic M.E. prefix, from O.E. ge-, originally meaning "with, together" but later a completive or perfective element, from P.Gmc. *ga-. It is still living in Ger. and Du. ge-, and survives, disguised, in some Eng. words (e.g. alike, aware).

-y

adj. suffix, "full of or characterized by," from O.E. -ig, from P.Gmc. *-iga (cf. Ger. -ig), cognate with Gk. -ikos, L. -icus.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Y definition

Function: symbol
yttrium

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2007 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Y
The symbol for the element yttrium.

Science Dictionary

Y
The symbol for yttrium.

yttrium

(ĭt'rē-əm) Pronunciation Key
Symbol Y
A silvery metallic element found in the same ores as elements of the lanthanide series. Yttrium is used to strengthen magnesium and aluminum alloys, to provide the red color in color televisions, and as a component of various optical and electronic devices. Atomic number 39; atomic weight 88.906; melting point 1,522°C; boiling point 3,338°C; specific gravity 4.45 (25°C); valence 3. See Periodic Table.

Computing Dictionary

Y definition

1. General purpose language syntactically like RATFOR, semantically like C. Lacks structures and pointers. Used as a source language for Jack W. Davidson and Christopher W. Fraser's peephole optimiser which inspired GCC RTL and other optimisation ideas.
(ftp://ftp.cs.princeton.edu/pub/y+po.tar.Z). It is a copy of the original distribution from the University of Arizona during the early 80's, totally unsupported.
["The Y Programming Language", D.R. Hanson, SIGPLAN Notices 16(2):59-68 (Feb 1981)].
[Jack W. Davidson and Christopher W. Fraser, "The Design and Application of a Retargetable Peephole Optimiser", TOPLAS, Apr. 1980].
[Jack W. Davidson, "Simplifying Code Through Peephole Optimisation" Technical Report TR81-19, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 1981].
[Jack W. Davidson and Christopher W. Fraser, "Register Allocation and Exhaustive Peephole Optimisation" Software-Practice and Experience, Sep. 1984].
2. See fixed point combinator.

Abbreviations & Acronyms

y
yen