hu

H4U1
/hu/

pronoun

they (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun, coordinate with gendered pronouns he and she.

CommonScrabble 5

Meanings

hu1

pronounhu (third-person singular, nominative case, reflexive huself)

reflexive huself

  1. epiceneneologismnominativenonstandardsingularthird personthey (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun, coordinate with gendered pronouns he and she.

    Maybe, but if his/herstory's any guide, hu has hu work cut out for hu.

    2008 March, Christoph Hitz, “Hu, Me?”, in Mother Jones, →ISSN
    3 more examples

    Hu is fond of enigmas, of conundrums, of hieroglyphics; exhibiting in hus solutions of each and all a degree of acumen which appears to the ordinary apprehension preternatural.

    2002 January 3, Bryan T. McMahon, quoting Sasha Newborn, “A terrible book”, in The Ponchatoula Times, page 7

    When the lecturer arrives, hu will be speaking on the topic of anonymity.

    2003 October 14, Mikhail Epstein, “"Hu," from "human," as a gender-neutral pronoun”, in alt.english.usage (Usenet), message-ID <f732cdb7.0310141153.6c715df8@posting.google.com>

    It's the vice-president's job to support the president and take hus place when hu is away.

    2007 November 29, Mikhail Epstein, “hu”, in International Society for Universal Dialog, archived from the original on 02 Jan 2012
  2. epiceneneologismnominativenonstandardsingularthird personthem (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular object pronoun, coordinate with gendered pronouns him and her.

    One of his favorite metaphors for the historian, drawn from the "Preface" to Hegel's Philosophy of Right, likens hu to the owl of Minerva, whose flight at dusk provided the setting for mature reflection on the day that had passed.

    2006, Perry Anderson with Glenn Burgess, edited by D. N. DeLuna, The Political Imagination in History: Essays Concerning J.G.A. Pocock, Owlworks, →ISBN, page 175
  3. epiceneneologismnominativenonstandardsingularthird persontheir (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular possessive adjective, coordinate with his and her.

    If hu doesn't do hu homework, I will fail hu.

    2006 November 17, Rob Kyff, “Hu Joins Heesh As Neutral Pronoun”, in Hartford Courant, archived from the original on 05 Mar 2016
    1 more example

    Now, however, the editorial writer has a new weapon in hu arsenal.

    2006 October 1, “He said, she said, hu said”, in Los Angeles Times

Hu2

proper noun
  1. A common surname from Chinese of east Asian derivation.

    At the center of it all was Hu Shuo-Chieh, a decorated Taiwanese superstar who soon followed up his standout moment (his team would fall short in the finals) with an even more surprising move. In November, Mr. Hu, known in gaming as SwordArt, announced that he was leaving his base in China, […]

    2021 January 30, Kellen Browning, “They’re Flocking to America to Make a Fortune Playing Video Games”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2021

Hu3

proper noun
  1. historicalAny of several peoples of China, for example the Tatars of northwestern China, whom the Chinese considered barbarians.

Hu4

proper noun
  1. The god of the creation word in Egyptian mythology.

Hu5

proper noun
  1. A town in Egypt, located on the Nile, which in more ancient times was the capital of the seventh nome of Upper Egypt.

    The Cemeteries of Abadiyeh and Hu, Egypt Exploration Fund

    2013 November 11, Linda Manzanilla, Emergence and Change in Early Urban Societies, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 84
    1 more example

    [...] portion of a dagger-blade(?) of flint, finely-worked and delicately serrated, prehistoric, Hu, Egypt; pottery table of offerings to the dead, Diospolis Parva. The following of the prehistoric period, Egypt: small curved flint knife, worked along one[…]

    1900, University of Oxford, Oxford University Gazette, page 699

HU6

nounHU (plural HUs)

plural HUs

  1. PakistanabbreviationinitialismInitialism of Hazara University.
  2. abbreviationinitialismlogisticsInitialism of handling unit.
  3. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of Hounsfield unit on the Hounsfield scale, a unit of measurement used on a computed tomography machine.
  4. USobsoleteaeronauticsprefix for utility helicopter designations
proper noun
  1. A name for God in the Eckankar new religious movement.

    The ECK can be experienced through chanting the word "HU," a special name for God in ECKANKAR. Chanting HU with an open heart to God's love is a central spiritual practice of ECKANKAR. It is alleged to help lift one to spiritual self-realization, and ultimately God-realization.

    2001 03, James R. Lewis, The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions, Prometheus Books, →ISBN, page 297
    1 more example

    HU, Law of. The first law of the physical universe. Spirit is the all-penetrating power which is the forming power of the universes of HU, the Voice of HU (God). See also laws of the physical universe. / HU, A Year of. The fifth of the Spiritual Years of ECK. HU is the most ancient name for God, not God Itself.

    2015 October 15, Harold Klemp, A Cosmic Sea of Words: The ECKANKAR Lexicon, ECKANKAR, →ISBN

Origin

hu · pronoun

Clipping of human, first offered for usage by Mikhail Epstein, professor of cultural theory at Emory University (in 2003).

Full word history & related roots →

Hu · proper noun

  1. Chinese胡
  2. EnglishHu

From Chinese 胡 (hú). Doublet of Wu. For less common variants, see Hu.

Full word history & related roots →

Hu · proper noun

  1. Egyptianḥwt-sḫm
  2. Arabicهُو
  3. EnglishHu

From Arabic هُو (hū), from the town's ancient name, Egyptian ḥwt-sḫm.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic هُو, خُو
  • هُو (hū)Chinese surname
  • خُو (ḵū)Chinese surname
Chinese Mandarin 胡
  • 胡 (Hú)Chinese surname
Greek Χου
  • ΧουChinese surname
Hebrew חו
  • חוChinese surname
Hindi हु, ख़ू
  • हु (hu)Chinese surname
  • ख़ू (xū)Chinese surname
Japanese 胡, ホゥー
  • 胡 (Ko)Chinese surname
  • ホゥー (Hū)Chinese surname
  • フー (Fū)Chinese surname
Korean 호, 후
  • 호 (Ho)Chinese surname
  • 후 (Hu)Chinese surname
Persian هو
  • هوChinese surname
Russian Ху
  • Ху (Xu)Chinese surname
Thai หู
  • หู (hǔu)Chinese surname
Vietnamese Hồ
  • HồChinese surname

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with hu

All rhymes →

Sounds the same

Cite this entry
APA

hu. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hu

MLA

“hu.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hu. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hu,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hu.

Source: hu on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.