emu

[ ee-myoo ]

/ ˈi myu /

Save This Word!

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.

QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON THE 12 TYPES OF VERB TENSES!

Loosen up your grammar muscles because it’s time to test your knowledge on verb tenses!

Question 1 of 6

The verb tenses can be split into which 3 primary categories?

action, linking, and helping

dynamic, static, and auxiliary

past, present, and future

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar Coach

Improve Your Writing

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

EMR, EMS, EMT, emtricitabine, Emtriva, emu, emu-bob, emu bush, emulate, emulation, emulator

Definition 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. 2021

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