emu

plural emus · alternative obsolete emeu

1. A large flightless bird native to Australia, Dromaius novaehollandiae.First known use 18th c.

   From New Holland the emeu, / With his better moiety, / Has paid a visit to the Zo- / ological Society.

   1829, “The Progress of Zoology”, in T[homas] Crofton Croker, editor, The Christmas Box. An Annual Present to Young Persons, London: John Ebers and Co. 27 Old Bond Street; Philadelphia, Pa.: Thomas Wardle, →OCLC, page 176

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   [page 59] The Emu, though not ſo as large as the oſtrich, is only ſecond to it in magnitude. It is by much the largeſt bird in the New Continent; and is generally found to be ſix feet high, meaſuring from its head to the ground. […] [page 60] [T]he emu runs with ſuch a ſwiftneſs, that the fleeteſt dogs are thrown out in the purſuit.

   1791, Oliver Goldsmith, An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature. […], new edition, volume V, London: […] F[rancis] Wingrave, successor to Mr. [John] Nourse, […], →OCLC, part I (An History of Birds), pages 59 and 60

   I left my young emeus […] just parted from their affectionate father, and not yet fully reconciled to beginning the world on their own account.

   1864 June 4, William Bennett, “Acclimation and Breeding of Emeus (Dromius irroratus, Bartlett) in Surrey”, in Edward Newman, editor, The Zoologist: A Popular Miscellany of Natural History, volume XXII, London: John Van Voorst, […], →OCLC, chapter II

   A stranger cannot but remark, throughout the pastoral districts of Australia, how seldom he sees sheep as he travels along. […] It may be that he will also expect emus and kangaroos, and he will generally be disappointed also in regard to them. Kangaroos I certainly have seen in great numbers, though by no means so often as I expected. An emu running wild I never did see. Tame emus round the houses in towns are very common, and of emus’ eggs there is a plethora.

   1873, Anthony Trollope, “Wool”, in Australia and New Zealand. … In Two Volumes, volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 219–220

   Both cassowaries and emus are large, flightless, cursorial birds with diminutive wings. […] Emus, the world's second largest living birds, live in Australia and are the only extant member of the genus Dromaius.

   2015, Sankar Chatterjee, “The Avian Revolution Begins”, in The Rise of Birds: 225 Million Years of Evolution, 2nd edition, Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 191

2. obsoleteA cassowary (genus Casuarius).First known use early 17th c.

   [page 1] 1. EGGES. Caſſawary, or Emeu, vide Aldrov: p. 542. Harveum, G.A. p. 61. […] [page 3] 4. CLAWES. […] A legge and claw of the Caſſawary or Emeu that dyed at S. James’s, Weſtminſter.

   1656, John Tradescant [the elder], “Some Kindes of Birds Their Egges, Beaks, Feathers, Clawes, and Spurres”, in Musæum Tradescantianum: Or, A Collection of Rarities. Preserved at South-Lambeth neer London by John Tradescant, London: Printed by John Grismond, and are to be sold by Nathanael Brooke […], →OCLC, pages 1 and 3

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   It is a native both of the Eaſt and Weſt Indies; and all the writers on birds have deſscribed it. Aldrovand [Ulisse Aldrovandi] calls it Emeu ſive Eme; Boulius, Emeu vulgo Caſoarius; and others, Caſſuarus.

   1752, John Hill, “CASUARIUS. [The Cassowary.]”, in An History of Animals. […], London: Printed for Thomas Osborne, […], →OCLC, page 482

alternative obsolete emeu

1. abbreviationinitialismnatural sciencesInitialism of electromagnetic unit.

   A bar magnet NS has poles of strength 144 emu, 5 cm apart.

   1941, Henry A[ugustus Perkins], edited by E[dward] U[hler] Condon, College Physics (Prentice-Hall Physics Series), New York, N.Y.: Prentice-Hall, →OCLC, page 403

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   Rock Magnetic Properties as Related to a Magnetometer Profile for Serpentines, Sierra Nevada, California / DuBOIS, ROBERT L., Dept. Geology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz. / The remanent magnetism of a suite of specimens from a serpentine mass in the Sierra Nevada, California, has a declination of N. 32°E. and an inclination of plus 84°. The average intensity is 80 × 10⁻⁵ emu/cc.

   1962, “Abstracts of Papers Submitted for the Meeting in Houston: November 12–14, 1962”, in Geological Society of America: Abstracts for 1962: Abstracts of Papers Submitted for Six Meetings with which the Society was Associated (Special GSA Papers; no. 73), New York, N.Y.: Geological Society of America, published 1963, →OCLC, page 141

   The amount of charge named by one emu is that which produces a unit magnetic effect when flowing in a current at one unit length per second.

   1974, William Berkson, “Maxwell’s Field Theory”, in Fields of Force: The Development of a World View from Faraday to Einstein, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, →ISBN; republished Abingdon, Oxon.; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, 2014, →ISBN, page 168

   Early investigations showed no detectable magnetic intensity in tektite glass, at the level of about 10⁻⁴ emu/g. (To convert measurements in emu/g to S.I., multiply by 10³.)

   1976, John Aloysius O’Keefe, Tektites and Their Origin (Developments in Petrology; 4), Amsterdam; New York, N.Y.: Elsevier Scientific Pub. Co., →OCLC, page 109

   Experimentally the magnetic moment is usually given in units of emu/g, emu/cm³ or emu/mole.

   2005, Peter Mohn, “Experimental Basis of Ferromagnetism”, in Magnetism in the Solid State: An Introduction (Solid-State Sciences), Berlin: Springer-Verlag, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 39

   Synonyms: EMU

plural emus · alternative obsolete emeu

1. abbreviationclippinginformalcomputingClipping of emulator.

   Saw this article for playing downloadable games on GBA. It's an official Nintendo product in Japan, and thought it might be useful for Nintendo to release actual emus and some of their older game properties (beyond the $20 classic series).

   2005 February 24, Dane L. Galden, “Could this be used for classic emus on GBA?”, in rec.games.video.classic (Usenet), message-ID <9XkTd.5830$Ba3.2608@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net>

1. A constellation or asterism from Australian aborigine cultures, a dark constellation pattern formed by an arrangement of dark nebulae in the sky, blotting out background stars, appearing akin to the emu (giant bird of Australia).
2. A locality in the Shire of Loddon, Shire of Central Goldfields and the Shire of Northern Grampians, north western Victoria, Australia

1. European UnionabbreviationinitialismInitialism of European Monetary Union.
2. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of Eastern Mennonite University.

plural EMUs

1. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablecomputingInitialism of English metric unit (“1/360,000-th of a centimetre, or, 1/914400-th of an inch”).
2. abbreviationcountableinitialismrail transportInitialism of electric multiple unit.

   The Government has thrown a lifeline to Alstom's Derby Works, with an offer of an order for ten Class 345 nine-car electric multiple units (EMUs) for the Elizabeth line - but only if the 'price is right'.

   2024 May 1, Mel Holley, “Network News: Elizabeth line '345s' offer a lifeline for Derby Works”, in RAIL, number 1008, page 8

3. alternativecountableuncountableAlternative form of emu or e.m.u.; Initialism of electromagnetic unit.
4. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableautomotiveInitialism of engine management unit.
5. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablespace flightInitialism of extravehicular mobility unit (“spacesuit”).
6. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableeconomicsInitialism of economic and monetary union.