y

uppercase Y · plural ys · plural y's

1. letterlowercaseThe twenty-fifth letter of the English alphabet, called wy or wye and written in the Latin script.

1. abbreviationAbbreviation of year.

   Consider the following questions selected from the tests and estimate the proportion of Y8 pupils you would expect to answer correctly.

   2003, Howard Tanner, Sonia Jones, Becoming a Successful Teacher of Mathematics

2. UKabbreviationbroadcastingAbbreviation of youth, usually followed by an age appropriate for the content so marked.

   Y7

1. Internetabbreviationnot comparableslangAbbreviation of why.

1. abbreviationcomputingAbbreviation of yes.

lowercase y · plural Ys · plural Y's

1. letteruppercaseThe twenty-fifth letter of the English alphabet, called wye and written in the Latin script.
2. letteruppercaseUsed for the Greek letter Υ (Y, “upsilon”).

plural Ys

1. A figure or mark in the shape of the letter Y.
2. A Y-shaped object, such as a railroad fork or a support for a telescope; a wye, a bifurcation.
3. biologyA moth of the genus Plusia, having markings resembling the letter Y.

1. abbreviationAbbreviation of yes.

plural Ys

1. abbreviationAbbreviation of year (In some contexts as YY or YYYY to indicate only the last 2-digits or all 4-digits.)

1. CanadaUSabbreviationclippingClipping of YMCA or YWCA.

   He had sat next to Cindy returning from the Y and smelled the chlorine on her. A sodden Band-Aid had clung by a few lingering bits of stickum to her knee.

   2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections

plural Ys

1. CanadaUSinformalA particular facility run by the YMCA/YWCA.

   When a 50ish woman at my Y learned that I was about to turn 80, she exclaimed, “80 is the new 60, and you set a great example for the rest of us!”

   2021 May 17, Jane E. Brody, “A Birthday Milestone: Turning 80!”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   1 more example

   Of course, the audience up here at the Bronx “Y” will probably be a little parochial, but if I make good in the lecture, I might one day end up speaking down at the Lex. Ave. “Y” where great thinkers like Norman Mailer and Seymour Krim are always airing their views.

   1963 (date written), John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces, London: Penguin Books, published 1980 (1981 printing), →ISBN

1. obsoleteObsolete form of IJ: a lake (formerly a bay) adjoining the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

   Amsterdam, Hol. fortif. on the gulf Y and the Amstel river, 27,000 ho. in the town, nearly as many in the suburbs; 210,000 inh. 1000 rp. 50,000 lm. 6000 sailors; well built, many canals, ground very damp and marshy, very clean streets, […]

   1813, William Müller, D. P., Topographical and Military Description of Germany and the Surrounding Country, 2nd edition, London: T. Egerton, pages 4–5

1. A commune of Somme department, Hauts-de-France region, France.