Showing results for "y"

• a variation of -ie.

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• y
  y

  an unknown quantity.
• Y
  Y

  noun

  the 25th letter of the English alphabet, a semivowel.
• y-
  y-

  a prefix occurring in certain obsolete words (ywis ) and especially in archaic past participles.
• -y
  -y

  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. Sometimes used to mean “allowing, fostering, or bringing about” the specified action: sippy.
• y.
  y.

  abbreviation

  yard; yards.
• Y.
  Y.

  abbreviation

  YMCA or YWCA

y

¹ American  

Symbol, Mathematics.

1. an unknown quantity.

2. (in Cartesian coordinates) the y-axis.

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Y ² American  

[wahy] / waɪ /

Or y

noun

• Y's,
  plural
• Ys,
  plural
• y's,
  plural
• ys
  plural

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

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

3. something having the shape of a Y .

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

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

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Y ³ American  

[wahy] / waɪ /

abbreviation

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

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Y ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. yen.

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Y ⁵ American  

Symbol.

1. the 25th in order or in a series.

2. (sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 150.

3. Electricity. admittance. Sometimes y

4. Chemistry. yttrium.

5. Biochemistry. tyrosine.

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y- ⁶ American  

Also i-

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

   yclad.

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-y ⁷ American  

1. 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. Sometimes used to mean “allowing, fostering, or bringing about” the specified action: sippy.

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-y ⁸ American  

Also -ie

1. 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 the formation from adjectives of 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 ).

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-y ⁹ American  

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

   carpentry; infamy.

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y. ¹⁰ American  

abbreviation

1. yard; yards.

2. year; years.

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Y ¹ British  

symbol

1. any unknown, unspecified, or variable factor, number, person, or thing

2. chem yttrium

3. currency

   1. yen

   2. yuan

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y ² British  

/ waɪ /

noun

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. 1. something shaped like a Y

   2. ( in combination )

      a Y-cross

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-y ³ British  

suffix

1. (from nouns) characterized by; consisting of; filled with; relating to; resembling

   sunny

   sandy

   smoky

   classy

2. (from verbs) tending to; acting or existing as specified

   leaky

   shiny

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-y ⁴ British  

suffix

1. denoting smallness and expressing affection and familiarity

   a doggy

   a granny

   Jamie

2. a person or thing concerned with or characterized by being

   a groupie

   a fatty

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-y ⁵ British  

suffix

1. (from verbs) indicating the act of doing what is indicated by the verbal element

   inquiry

2. (esp with combining forms of Greek, Latin, or French origin) indicating state, condition, or quality

   geography

   jealousy

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y ⁶ British  

symbol

1. the y- axis or a coordinate measured along the y- axis in a Cartesian coordinate system

2. an algebraic variable

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Y. ⁷ British  

abbreviation

1. YMCA or YWCA

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y. ⁸ British  

abbreviation

1. year

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Y's
  plural
• Ys
  plural
• y's
  plural
• ys
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of y-⁶

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-

Origin of -y⁷

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

Origin of -y⁸

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

Origin of -y⁹

Representing Latin -ia, -ium; Greek -ia, -eia, -ion; French -ie; German -ie

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

y Y y- -y y. Y. Y's Ys y's ys

“When people say, ‘my probability of doom is x or y or whatever, it hits in a different way,” said Altman.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

It described the incident, near Llyn y Fan Fawr in the west of the park, as "one of the worst" it had seen, following on from long-running wildfires in the area.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

A clash between two Caribbean titans — Romeo Santos and Don Omar — ‘Ella y Yo’ was a betrayal song for the ages.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

The food alone made the day’s mileage seem like a bargain: octopus in Galicia, Arzúa-Ulloa cheese from a farmers market or milk-fed lamb that made me forgive every hill in Castilla y León.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

María checks where the little pisa y corre bus is located.

From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya

For Vara, one of the stylistic issues that stood out about The Blue Fighter was that it had used sentence constructions using "X but Y", which she says is common in AI-generated texts.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

The Y axis is banded rather than a smooth, continuous scale.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

He worked for a host of startups and participated in startup incubator Y Combinator.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

Asked on S4C's Y Byd yn ei Le if he would be happy to get rid of the Wales Office, Drakeford said: "Yes, I think the time has come for us to think about that."

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

Vieta in 1579 began to use algebraic variables—X, Y, Z, etc.—to symbolize unknown quantities.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

The y- axis represents the distance he has left to drive.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 22, 2020

You can use the x- and y- intercepts as two of your three points.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 22, 2020

TRY IT : : 4.37 Find the x- and y- intercepts on the graph.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 22, 2020

The y- intercept occurs when x is zero.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 22, 2020

The prefix y-, representing the extremely common A.S.

From English Dialects From the Eighth Century to the Present Day by Walter W. (Walter William) Skeat

It’s another day ending in -y so Fortnite is having a new crossover event.

From The Verge ● Aug. 12, 2021

There has been a bit of inconsistency with the spelling of Zoey’s name, but it is with a -y.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 3, 2020

Well-established steps test for symmetry about an axis: replace x or y with -x or -y and then simplify the equation.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 10, 2018

As for her name, did the author mean to suggest a diminutive or nickname—in English nomenclature, the -y ending is typical of both—or perhaps chokkie, nursery slang for a chocolate treat?

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2015

Oc′ulāte, -d, having eyes, or spots like eyes; Oculau′ditory, representing an eye and an ear together; Oculif′erous, Oculig′erous, bearing an eye or eyes; Oc′uliform, ocular in form; Oc′ulimōtor, -y, ocular and motory.—n.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various

Find x and y. x = Dx, y = Dy.

From Textbooks ● May 6, 2020

Commander Joseph Jerome Sher in the Naval Medical Bulletin sidesteps the whole open *y. closed debate, recommends using the X-ray technique for 30 days in each cyst case before resorting to surgery.

From Time Magazine Archive

It delivered itself, a few nights ago, of this extraordinarily lucid message: x. y. z! upon which it was gravely explained by the true believers that "the spirits were out of temper about something."

From The Letters of Charles Dickens Vol. 1, 1833-1856 by Georgina Hogarth

The Vowels are a Voice or Sound modified by a various opening of the Mouth only, and are either Simple, or Uniform, as a. e. i. j. y. o. u. w.

From The Talking Deaf Man A Method Proposed, Whereby He Who is Born Deaf, May Learn to Speak by Daniel Foot

The principal abbreviations used in these pages are: b. standing for born. m. standing for married. d. standing for died. y. standing for young.

From The Stephens Family A Genealogy of the Descendants of Joshua Stevens by Alonzo Smith Bower

Or, when the bot feels sassy: “Not X. Not Y. But Z.”

From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2026

To doubters, Scaringe and his executives frequently point to the success of Tesla’s similarly sized and priced Model Y. Tesla sold nearly 360,000 Model Ys in the U.S. in 2025, making it America’s bestselling EV.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026

The Chinese company’s sales in the top 10 European markets quadrupled in 2025 compared with the previous year, according to calculations from Segment Y. Tesla sales slumped 30% over the same period.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2026

About the author: Mark Y. Rosenberg is a visiting scholar in UC Berkeley Department of Political Science and the founder of GeoQuant.

From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026

“I saw them riding their bikes, but I thought they were going to the Y. They must have just been circling the block.”

From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson

As for millennials, if you’re looking to draw that line for the current crop of thirty-to-fortysomethings, the point that separates Gen Y’s art and all that came before, look no further than Lena Dunham.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026

The Model Y’s charging rate maxes out at 250 kW.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

The Model Y’s pitch starts with an altogether reasonable price.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

More than 75,000 BYDs were sold in Mexico last year, according to Segment Y’s tally.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2026

Thanks to his long acquaintanceship with the locker room attendant, he and Maniac were privileged to continue using the Y’s shower facilities at their pleasure.

From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli

Still, Tesla could be raising prices because it sees strong demand for higher-end Model Ys.

From Barron's ● May 17, 2026

To doubters, Scaringe and his executives frequently point to the success of Tesla’s similarly sized and priced Model Y. Tesla sold nearly 360,000 Model Ys in the U.S. in 2025, making it America’s bestselling EV.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026

One such lost city – Ys – was believed to lie in the Bay of Douarnenez, just a few kilometres to the east.

From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2025

The agency said it received two complaints in which 2023 Model Ys were delivered to customers with a missing bolt holding the wheel to the steering column.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 8, 2023

It was a note, and it read: New CC was testing for undetected Ys, Os, Rs.

From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken

We have the y’s on the right and the constants on the left.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 22, 2020

I should have typed ‘Hey’ with two y’s, not just one!’

From The Guardian ● Jan. 10, 2016

“I should have typed ‘Hey’ with two y’s, not just one!”

From New York Times ● Jul. 6, 2015

I could add and subtract and multiply and divide, but I entered the wilderness when words became equations and x’s and y’s.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 26, 2015

She spoke with an Ayorthaian accent, smacking her lips after the letter m and pronouncing her l’s as y’s.

From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine

The original is as follows: “By commyxstion and mellyng furst wiþ danes and afterward wiþ Normans in menye þe contray longage ys apeyred, and som vseþ strange wlaffyng, chyteryng, harrying and garryng, grisbittyng.”

From The Guardian ● Aug. 15, 2019

“He sa ys he kno ws,” Helen told Theresa.

From "Typical American" by Gish Jen

‘No wonder,’ sayde the patriarke, ‘for they loue thyne and not the; that ys to meane, they loue thy goodes temporall, and fere the for losse of promocyon, but they loue not thy soule.’

From The History of the Knights Templars, the Temple Church, and the Temple by Charles G. Addison

There he hathe done maystres thre, Yt ys hys swerd, yt ys not he, 790 For Hatheloke ys ys name.’

From Torrent of Portyngale by Unknown

I am a poure dyuel, and my name ys Tytyuyllus, and I do myne offyce that is commytted vnto me.

From Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535 by Eileen Power

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