u
Spanish, conjunction
u is spelled U (one letter) and appears 135 times per million words in written Spanish, the 644th most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). U is a Spanish conjunction meaning “or” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, U is a different word: “The twenty-second letter of the Spanish alphabet, written in the…”. With a diaeresis, ü is a different word: “Indicate a diaeresis in ⟨gu⟩ before ⟨i⟩ and ⟨e⟩ (e.g., paragüero…”. On this page, Ü is a different word: “Indicate a diaeresis in ⟨gu⟩ before ⟨i⟩ and ⟨e⟩ (e.g., paragüero…”. The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Forma diacrítica de la conjunción disyuntiva u usada frente a las palabras comenzadas por /o/ para evitar la…”.
What does u mean in English?
letter
- 1
The twenty-second letter of the Spanish alphabet, written in the Latin script.
noun
- 1
feminineName of the letter U.
- 2
Latin-Americafeminineclipping of universidad (“university”)
conjunction
- 1
or
diez u once
letter
- 1
The twenty-second letter of the Spanish alphabet, written in the Latin script.
symbol
- 1
Indicate a diaeresis in ⟨gu⟩ before ⟨i⟩ and ⟨e⟩ (e.g., paragüero, pingüino).
symbol
- 1
Indicate a diaeresis in ⟨gu⟩ before ⟨i⟩ and ⟨e⟩ (e.g., paragüero, pingüino).
letter
- 1
A letter of the Latin alphabet representing an accented vowel /u/; uppercase version of ú
Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Spanish dictionaries define it
letter: 1. Vigesimosegunda letra del alfabeto español y quinta vocal. Su nombre es u₂.
noun: 1. Nombre de la letra u₁. 2. Pieza de metal que usan los tipógrafos y encuadernadores para marcar esa letra. 3. Punzón de acero para grabar esa vocal. 4. La plancha de metal, cartón,etc., en que está tallada esa letra.
conjunction: 1. Forma diacrítica de la conjunción disyuntiva u usada frente a las palabras comenzadas por /o/ para evitar la cacofonía.
letter: 1. Vigesimosegunda letra del alfabeto español y quinta vocal. Su nombre es u.
The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.
Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of u
- U uppercase
- us plural
- úes plural
- ú alternative obsolete
- u lowercase
- Ü uppercase
- ü lowercase
Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to u
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is u in Spanish?
u appears 135 times per million words in written Spanish.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).