Showing results for "y"

• a variation of -ie.

Jump To:

• 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.

---

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.

---

Y ³ American  

[wahy] / waɪ /

abbreviation

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

---

Y ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. yen.

---

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.

---

y- ⁶ American  

Also i-

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

   yclad.

---

-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.

---

-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 ).

---

-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.

---

y. ¹⁰ American  

abbreviation

1. yard; yards.

2. year; years.

---

Y ¹ British  

symbol

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

2. chem yttrium

3. currency

   1. yen

   2. yuan

---

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

---

-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

---

-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

---

-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

---

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

---

Y. ⁷ British  

abbreviation

1. YMCA or YWCA

---

y. ⁸ British  

abbreviation

1. year

---

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

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

"He campaigned in black and white, sharpening differences," said researcher Juan Alvarez at the Caro y Cuervo Institute.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

“Here in Hollywood’s hometown, we love a good underdog story,” Becerra told cheering supporters at his election night party at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes in downtown Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026

SYDNEY—Australian fast-food retailer Guzman y Gomez GYG 13.44%increase; green up pointing triangle has scrapped its U.S. expansion plans after its Mexican-themed dishes failed to entice local diners.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

A final y doesn’t change to ies at the end of a name.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

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

Auto sales in the period overwhelmingly consisted of the Model 3 sedan and the Model Y sport utility vehicle, with fewer than three percent going to other vehicles, including Tesla's futuristic Cybertruck.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

In early 2022, the regulator launched an investigation that covered roughly 416,000 2021 and 2022 Tesla Model 3 sedans and Model Y compact sport-utility vehicles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

At once Calder had known what to do—the Y had to slide into the U, which had to fit next to the P. He even remembered the sequence of letters: YUP.

From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett

This time the y- value is a constant, so in this equation, y does not depend on x .

From Textbooks ● Apr. 22, 2020

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

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

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

This relation gives us additional evidence of the identity of the physical effects of y-, x-, and light-rays —using the term light rays in the usual sense of spectral rays.

From The Birth-Time of the World and Other Scientific Essays by Joly, John

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

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

An hundred head of cattle. george washington, gen dix of n y. o sarah i Saw A pretty Bonnet. are You going home?

From Graded Lessons in English An Elementary English Grammar Consisting of One Hundred Practical Lessons, Carefully Graded and Adapted to the Class-Room by Reed, Alonzo

I therefore commanded the b. y. to row me over to the spot where the derelict lay.

From Spanish Doubloons by Kenyon, Camilla

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

The games went good because there’s always some smoking brothers playing at the Y. At the Y if you can’t get down you got to watch.

From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers

The R2 exploits the Model Y’s greatest weakness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026

He lauded the Model Y’s best-selling status at the meeting and promoted the Cybertruck, his electric pickup, despite actions by regulators earlier this week to recall nearly all Cybertrucks on the road.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2025

Neither did the jury accept boy Y's claims that he had simply played along with these fantasies and did not take them seriously.

From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2023

The company has utilised the integrated casting for Model Y's rear production, the report said.

From Reuters ● Sep. 27, 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

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 recall due to problems with the automatic steering assist function applies to 1.6 million imported Tesla Model S, Model X, Model 3 and Model Ys.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 5, 2024

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

From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken

Fill in 4 for all the y’s in Table 3.3 and then choose any values for x.

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

My answer'd died in the second line of x's and y's and squareds.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

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

Euyry man toke ys leve, ase I yow say, Hom-ward to wend ther wey, Euery man ys Rest to take.

From Torrent of Portyngale by Unknown

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

I warne yow, dowghttyr, be the Rode, Yt ys for yow bothe good, Ther to I Red yow trast.’

From Torrent of Portyngale by Unknown

Related Words

• corner
• edge
• intersection
• slant
• twist