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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

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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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

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

“The gap it’s jumping is so big,” said Leonel Pereznieto, a partner with the Mexico City office of law firm Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enriquez.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

“When people say, ‘my probability of doom is x or y or whatever, it hits in a different way,” said Altman.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

The patriarch played a crucial role in the development of his daughter Selena’s career, establishing his family-led band Selena y Los Dinos in the 1980s as a way to meet financial needs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

A massive fire near Madrid is close to merging with another blaze in neighbouring Castilla y Leon, government official Nicanor Sen Velez has said.

From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026

Two years ago, only six months before the accident, my parents had come over for Christmas Eve dinner, bringing Maribel a dress from Diseño y Artesanía that my mother insisted they wanted to give her.

From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez

The Y axis represents the trade exposure to AI.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

The Y axis is banded rather than a smooth, continuous scale.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

Developers want to construct a complex on a 101 acre site between Caernarfon and Y Felinheli, in Gwynedd, saying it could create more than 900 jobs during construction and 200 permanent roles.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Gabrielle Creevy won her second Best Actress award and Y Crwydryn took home the Single Documentary award, with Rhys Edwards winning Director Factual for the same show.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

And after some refugee teenagers got into a fight near the field, Ransom insisted that the Y hire guards.

From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John

Since the x- and y- intercepts are the same point, we need two more points to graph the line.

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- axis represents the distance he has left to drive.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 22, 2020

For each row, the y- coordinate of the point where the line crosses the x- axis is zero.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 22, 2020

The prefix y-, representing the extremely common A.S.

From English Dialects From the Eighth Century to the Present Day by Walter W. (Walter William) Skeat

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

Vehic′ūlar, -y, pertaining to or serving as a vehicle.—v.t.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) 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

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

From Spanish Doubloons by Camilla Kenyon

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

From The Game of Logic by Lewis Carroll

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 Georgina Hogarth

Kevin Y. Fu wrote in his sentencing memo.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026

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

From Slate ● Mar. 20, 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

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

He blinked twice at Y. Then O, then at L...and I needed no more letters to finish writing YOLANDA.

From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg

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 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

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

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

There were 76 electric SUVs in 2020 before Tesla started producing Model Ys in China, with average annual sales amounting to just 3,000 units.

From Reuters ● May 8, 2023

And all along the rooftop of the structure stood twelve-foot-tall steel posts, a picket line of uppercase Ys, each of them strung with razor wire.

From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith

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

She didn’t know that much about algebra yet, but it seemed that sometimes there were x's and y’s both in a problem, and you only needed to find the value for one of them.

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

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

Once ys is found as plural: 2524 ys—iwys.

From Torrent of Portyngale by Unknown

Now ys ther none other to say, Of hyme he wane the fyld þat day; 215 I pray God hyme schyld.

From Torrent of Portyngale by Unknown

I Red yow let Torent her haue, For best worthy ys he.’

From Torrent of Portyngale by Unknown

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