nu
German, interjection
nu is spelled N-U (2 letters) and appears 9.5 times per million words in written German, the 7,292nd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Nu is a German interjection meaning “yes; yeah; expresses agreement or understanding” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Nu is a different word: “only used in im Nu (“immediately, in no time”, literally “in the now”)”.
What does nu mean in English?
interjection
- 1
colloquialyes; yeah; expresses agreement or understanding
- 2
colloquialwell; fills pause
noun
- 1
masculineneuteronly used in im Nu (“immediately, in no time”, literally “in the now”)
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
adverb: 1. landschaftlich, nun, jetzt
particle: 1. ja
noun: 1. sehr kurzer Zeitabschnitt
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of nu
- nun variant
- Nus genitive singular
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to nu
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is nu in German?
nu appears 9.5 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).