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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

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

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

Two separate wildfires in the Madrid region combined on Friday to form one huge blaze, which threatened to merge with a third near Avila in the neighbouring Castilla y Leon region.

From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026

Spanish police said they had arrested a man for setting off a fire in Castilla y Leon region by using farm machinery in breach of a ban in the tinderbox conditions.

From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026

That has been the practice since the pioneering work of Spanish neuroscientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal more than a century ago.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

The free train ride was part of an annual event called la Ruta de la Tapa y el Cóctel, where people are encouraged to visit different local businesses to try their food and drink offerings.

From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026

The repetition of “Santa Maria, Madre de Dios, ruega Señora por nosotros los pecadores ahora y en la horn de nuestra muerte, amen,” slowly comforted and soothed my soul.

From "The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child" by Francisco Jiménez

Test your knowledge of the English language: How many words can you create with the letters P, Y, C, R, O, and T?

From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026

A quarter of startups in Y Combinator's Winter 2025 batch were built on code that was 95 percent AI-generated, according to Managing Partner Jared Friedman.

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

In their quest to secure new business customers, Anthropic and OpenAI have zeroed in on startups participating in Y Combinator, the Silicon Valley institution that launched Airbnb and Stripe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

The company sold 467,762 Model 3 and Model Y electric compact cars and SUVs.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

I decided to ask up here at the Y if I could get the auditorium one night.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

One way to recognize that they are indeed the same line is to look at where the line crosses the x- axis and the y- axis.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 22, 2020

The y- axis represents the number of gallons of gas in the truck’s gas tank.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 22, 2020

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

From Textbooks ● Apr. 22, 2020

Choose any three values for x and then solve for the corresponding y- values.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 22, 2020

The infinitives of verbs rarely have y- prefixed; two examples are y-lere, 12, y-se, 334.

From The Lay of Havelok the Dane by Unknown

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

Nouns of the Third Declension end in -a, -e, -ī, -ō, -y, -c, -l, -n, -r, -s, -t, -x.

From New Latin Grammar by Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)

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

All y are x, and all x are y. i.e.

From The Game of Logic by Carroll, Lewis

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 Bower, Alonzo Smith

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 Hogarth, Georgina

Kevin Y. Fu wrote in his sentencing memo.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026

Then technological advances made it possible to sequence DNA recovered from archaeological samples and determine that Y. pestis was indeed the cause.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

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

From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2026

In the Middle Ages, rats served as the reservoir for Y. pestis, while fleas acted as the vector that spread the bacterium.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 7, 2026

But then she smiles at me, flashing her upside-down Y. “Seriously, Shayla. He’s not so bad.”

From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée

The R2 exploits the Model Y’s greatest weakness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 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

The ombudsman said it had failed to provide Y's education, health and care plan between September 2023 and July 2024.

From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2025

Other researchers, however, express more skepticism about neuropeptide Y’s significance in human evolution.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 11, 2023

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

EVs are scarce here in Milan’s inner city, with a smattering of Tesla Model 3s and Ys and shoebox-sized Smart and Citroën Ami EVs.

From Seattle Times ● May 28, 2023

Tesla's plant near Berlin hit a new production record equivalent to annual output of over 200,000 Model Ys earlier this week, the company said.

From Reuters ● Mar. 1, 2023

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

From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken

Subtract 7y to each side to get the y’s to one side.

From Textbooks ● May 6, 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

He picked up his pencil and began to try to untangle an equation with unknown x’s and unnamed y’s.

From "Tiger Boy" by Mitali Perkins

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

His Gratious Sovereign hearing of his death, gave him his high comendation in ys pationate expression, Bring me a moorning scarffe, i have lost One of the best Commanders in this Kingdome.

From Curious Epitaphs by Various

Lyke strings well tuned in an unison, No discord harsh ys navell could untye.

From The Portsmouth Road and Its Tributaries To-Day and in Days of Old by Harper, Charles G. (Charles George)

More upwarde be Eryri Hilles, and in them ys very little corne.

From Climbing in The British Isles, Vol. II Wales and Ireland by Hart, H. C.

Related Words

• corner
• edge
• intersection
• slant
• twist