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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

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

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

Paris St-Germain's Ruiz, who started the final against Argentina, and Barcelona's Gavi wore their gold medals as they were greeted by Los Palacios y Villafranca officials and a large crowd.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

Find the letter in the box marked: El amor y la fe.

From "The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora" by Pablo Cartaya

Tesla's recall involves 2.9 million domestically-made units of its Model 3 and Model Y electric cars and begins on September 25.

From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026

Tesla just made the best thing about the Model Y optional.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

Tesla plans to initially deploy a small number of Model Y crossover SUVs in Clark County, mirroring a strategy it’s employed in Texas, Florida and California.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

Researchers have often assumed that differences between male and female immune systems are largely driven by the X and Y sex chromosomes.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

From top to ground level, they are: U and Z T and Y S and X R and W Q and V The Q-and-V galleries are on the flats.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

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

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

The y- intercept occurs when x is zero.

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

The prefix i- or y- is equivalent to the A.-S. or German ge, and usually denotes the past participle.

From Six Centuries of English Poetry Tennyson to Chaucer by James Baldwin

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

Of course it's forward—and indeed It's worse—it's shockingly imprudent Thus to encourage me, a need- -y student.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 100, April 4, 1891 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

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

From The Game of Logic by Lewis Carroll

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 Alonzo Reed

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

From Spanish Doubloons by Camilla Kenyon

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

From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2026

The project’s curator, Christine Y. Kim, said “sister dreamer” gained momentum during the pandemic, when the need for public gathering spaces became urgent.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 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

In China, its launch pricing started at 299,900 Chinese Yuan, which converts to roughly $43,000—in the same range as a Tesla Model Y. Yet the Xiaomi experience feels more premium.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 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

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

However, in most situations, the Model Y’s awareness is such that it already knows whether you want to go forward or back.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 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

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

Nvidia became the first $4 trillion company by selling the silicon equivalent of fast, powerful and expensive Ferrari sports cars, but now the world wants Priuses and Model Ys.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 16, 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 builds Model Ys using large, one-piece "mega-castings" to create big chunks of the vehicle's body structure.

From Reuters ● Apr. 19, 2023

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

In 1683 "Robert Austine at ye Angel hath leave given him for a week from ys Daie to make show of the storie of Edward the 4th and Iane Shore, and noe longer."

From Through East Anglia in a Motor Car by J. E. (James Edmund) Vincent

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

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 Charles G. (Charles George) Harper

Related Words

• corner
• edge
• intersection
• slant
• twist