英语单词词源词典 u.docVIP

-ule suffix meaning small, little (capsule, module, etc.), from Fr. -ule, from L. diminutive suffix -ulus (fem. -ula, neut. -ulum). -ulent from L. adj. suffix -ulentus full of. u for historical evolution, see V. Used punningly for you by 1588 [Loves Labours Lost, V.i.60], not long after the pronunciation shift that made the vowel a homonym of the pronoun. As a simple shorthand (without intentional word-play), it is recorded from 1862. Common in business abbreviations since 1923 (e.g. U-Haul, attested from 1951). U-bahn Ger. or Austrian subway system, 1938 (originally in ref. to Berlin), from Ger. U-bahn, short for Untergrund-bahn, lit. underground railway. U-boat 1916 (said to have been in use from 1913), partial translation of Ger. U-boot, short for Unterseeboot, lit. undersea boat. U-turn 1934, from u + turn (n.). So called in ref. to the shape of the path described. U.K. abbreviation for United Kingdom, attested from 1892. U.N. abbreviation for United Nations, attested from 1946. U.S. abbreviation for United States, attested from 1834. ubi place, location, position, 1614, common in Eng. c.1640-1740. from L. ubi where, ult. from PIE *kwo-bhi- (cf. Skt. kuha, O.C.S. kude where), locative case of pronomial base *kwo-. Ubi sunt, lit. where are (1914), in ref. to lamentations for the mutability of things is from a phrase used in certain M.L. Christian works. ubiquity 1579, from M.Fr. ubiquité (17c.), from L. ubique everywhere, from ubi where (see ubi) + que any, also, ever, a suffix that can give universal meaning to the word it is attached to. Originally a Lutheran theological position maintaining the omnipresence of Christ. Ubiquitous in the sense of turning up everywhere is first recorded 1837, originally a jocular extension of the theological word. udder O.E. udder milk gland of a cow, goat, etc., from P.Gmc. *udr- (cf. O.Fris., M.Du. uder, O.H.G. utar, Ger. Euter, and, with unexplained change of consonant, O.N. jugr), from PIE *udhr- (cf. S