Wu

//ˈwuː// name, noun

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    Suzhou, a city in southern Jiangsu province in China, whence:; A county of imperial and Republican China around Suzhou. historical
  2. 2
    A surname from Chinese.
  3. 3
    A river in Guizhou, China, a tributary of the Yangtze.
  4. 4
    A river in Hunan, China, a tributary of the Yuan.
  5. 5
    A river in Hunan, China, a tributary of the Yuan.
Show 22 more definitions
  1. 6
    A surname from Chinese.
  2. 7
    A surname from Chinese.
  3. 8
    Initialism of Weather Underground. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
  4. 9
    Suzhou, a city in southern Jiangsu province in China, whence:; A commandery of imperial China around Suzhou. historical
  5. 10
    An epithet of numerous kings and emperors in Chinese history who were honored with variants of the posthumous name Wuwang or Wudi. historical
  6. 11
    A surname from Chinese.
  7. 12
    A surname from Chinese.
  8. 13
    Initialism of Windows Update. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
  9. 14
    A historic and cultural region of China around the mouth of the Yangtze River, whence:; The family of Chinese languages spoken in that region, including Shanghainese and Suzhounese, the second-most spoken family after Mandarin.

    "Linguists say the Wu dialect widely spoken in Shanghai, to take one prominent example, shares only about 31 percent lexical similarity with Mandarin, or roughly the same as English and French. The encounter at the Datian market began when the dumpling seller approached the foreigner with a phrase that sounded like "goodbye" in the Wu dialect. Knowing it must mean something else, the foreigner guessed she was asking his name, and provided it, producing a laugh from the woman who explained, switching to Mandarin, that she had asked if he had eaten lately."

  10. 15
    Various universities:; Initialism of Washburn University. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
  11. 16
    A historic and cultural region of China around the mouth of the Yangtze River, whence:; The kingdom ruled by the Ji family from Wuxi and then Suzhou during the Spring and Autumn period of China's Zhou dynasty. historical

    "The finest private gardens were built in Suzhou, a graceful old city with a network of canals and a cultured ambiance. It was founded in the sixth century B.C. as the capital of the kingdom of Wu and flourished as a center of trade and scholarship under successive dynasties."

  12. 17
    Various universities:; Initialism of Washington University. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
  13. 18
    A historic and cultural region of China around the mouth of the Yangtze River, whence:; A common surname from Chinese
  14. 19
    Various universities:; Initialism of Waynesburg University. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
  15. 20
    A historic and cultural region of China around the mouth of the Yangtze River, whence:; The kingdom ruled by the Sun family from Ezhou and Nanjing during the Three Kingdoms interregnum following China's Han dynasty. historical

    "I deeply regretted having to miss seeing Hsing-ping, a very old town built by the ruler of the Wu Kingdom in the Three Kingdoms period of the third century."

  16. 21
    Various universities:; Initialism of Webster University. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
  17. 22
    A historic and cultural region of China around the mouth of the Yangtze River, whence:; The kingdom ruled by Li Zitong from Yangzhou and Hangzhou during the interregnum following China's Sui dynasty. historical
  18. 23
    Various universities:; Initialism of Willamette University. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
  19. 24
    A historic and cultural region of China around the mouth of the Yangtze River, whence:; The kingdom ruled by the Yang family from Yangzhou during the Ten Kingdoms interregnum following China's Tang dynasty. historical
  20. 25
    Various universities:; Initialism of Winthrop University. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
  21. 26
    A historic and cultural region of China around the mouth of the Yangtze River, whence:; The kingdom ruled by the Qian family from Hangzhou and Shaoxing during the Ten Kingdoms interregnum following China's Tang dynasty. historical
  22. 27
    Various universities:; Initialism of World University. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
Noun
  1. 1
    A Chinese shaman. historical
  2. 2
    a dialect of Chinese spoken in the Yangtze delta wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

Romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 吳 /吴 (Wú). Doublet of O.

Etymology 2

Romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 武 (Wǔ, “war, warrior, warlike”).

Etymology 3

Romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 烏 /乌 (Wū or Wù, “crow, raven, black”).

Etymology 4

Romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 巫 (Wū or Wú, “shaman, sorceror, witch”).

Etymology 5

Romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 㵲 (Wǔ).

Etymology 6

The romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of various other Chinese surnames: 伍 (Wǔ), 仵 (Wǔ), 鄔/邬 (Wū).

Etymology 7

From Cantonese 胡 (wu⁴). Doublet of Hu.

Etymology 8

From the Wade-Giles romanization of Mandarin Chinese 巫 (wū, “shaman”).

Etymology 9

Initialism.

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