emu

[ ee-myoo ]

/ ˈi myu /

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noun

a large, flightless, ratite bird, Emu (Dromaius) novaehollandiae, of Australia, resembling the ostrich but smaller and having a feathered head and neck and rudimentary wings.

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Origin of emu

1605–15; earlier emeu (in earliest E source emia, eme), ultimately <Portuguese ema, attested in 1541 as a name for the cassowary (further origin obscure); the replacement of -a by -eu, etc., is unexplained

Words nearby emu

empyreuma, em quad, EMR, EMS, EMT, emu, emu-bob, emu bush, emulate, emulation, emulator

Other definitions for emu (2 of 2)

EMU

Also emu electromagnetic unit.

Aerospace. extravehicular mobility unit.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use emu in a sentence

Gordon Brown, too, resisted the siren calls of the Europhiles in his own party to take Britain into the EMU.
Niall Ferguson: Great Britain Saves Itself by Rejecting the EU|Niall Ferguson|December 10, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Around my middle I wore a kind of double apron of emu skin, with feathers.
The Adventures of Louis de Rougemont|Louis de Rougemont
A man of the Emu phratry marries a woman of the Kangaroo phratry, and to that phratry her children belong.
The Secret of the Totem|Andrew Lang
Lizard man, in local group Emu, might marry Snipe woman also in local group Emu, as far as extant totem law now goes.
The Secret of the Totem|Andrew Lang

Emu local group is now full of members of Snipe, Lizard, and other animal-named members by maternal descent.
The Secret of the Totem|Andrew Lang
Thus Lizard man, in Emu local group, cannot marry Snipe woman in the same.
The Secret of the Totem|Andrew Lang

British Dictionary definitions for emu (1 of 3)

emu

/ (ˈiːmjuː) /

noun

a large Australian flightless bird, Dromaius novaehollandiae, similar to the ostrich but with three-toed feet and grey or brown plumage: order CasuariiformesSee also ratite

Word Origin for emu

C17: changed from Portuguese ema ostrich, from Arabic Na-`amah ostrich

British Dictionary definitions for emu (2 of 3)

EMU

abbreviation for

European Monetary Union

Economic and Monetary Union

See e.m.u.

British Dictionary definitions for emu (3 of 3)

e.m.u.

EMU

abbreviation for

electromagnetic unit

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for emu

EMU

Abbreviation of electromagnetic unit