au

au

1. IAU recommended unit symbol for astronomical unit

• IAU bodies, such as the Minor Planet Center, themselves frequently use AU instead of "au".

• ua (BIPM recommendation for the unit symbol of astronomical unit)
• ㍳ (Unicode glyph for astronomical unit)

au (plural au)

1. Abbreviation of atomic unit.
2. Abbreviation of arbitrary unit.
3. Abbreviation of astronomical unit.
4. Abbreviation of Absorbance Units.

au

1. A vowel found in Indic abugidas.

   Synonym: letter au

• U/A, UA, uA

• ou

From Old High German ouh, from Proto-Germanic *auk. Cognate with German auch, Dutch ook, English eke, Swedish och.

• (Zürich) IPA^(key): /æʊ/

au

1. also, too

Inherited from Latin au (“oh! ow! oh dear! goodness gracious!”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈau̯/
• Syllabification: au
• Rhymes: -au̯

au

1. now, let's go (as an incitement to action or to a decision)

   Synonym: aire

2. ouch (An expression of one's own physical pain)

   Synonyms: ai, ah, oh, holio, conyo, conye, sinyor

3. aha (An Expression of incredulity or doubt)

   Synonyms: au-va, araba, ah, va

4. please (When asking for something in a familiar tone)

   Synonyms: per favor, au va

From Latin avis, avem.

• IPA^(key): /ˈau̯/
• Syllabification: au
• Rhymes: -au̯

au f (plural aus)

1. bird

• “ave”, in Aragonario, diccionario castellano–aragonés (in Spanish)
• Gramatica basica de l'aragonés (2017)

Inherited from Proto-Yeniseian *aw.

au

1. you (singular)

au

1. yes

   Au, ip'as!.

   Yes, alright!.

• Big Nambas Grammar Pacific Linguistics - G.J. Fox

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈaw]
• Rhymes: -aw

Inherited from Latin au (“oh! ow! oh dear! goodness gracious!”).

au

1. now (as an incitement to action or to a decision)

Inherited from Latin avis, avem, from Proto-Italic *awis (“bird”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwis (“bird”).

au f (plural aus)

2. bird

   Synonym: ocell

• ocell

• “au”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “au”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “au” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “au” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *asu, from Proto-Austronesian *asu.

au (Hangul spelling 아우)

1. dog (animal)

• Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*asu”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI

The sense “north” may be reinforced by or a semantic loan from Venetan: vago su a Trénto (“I go north to Trento”, literally “I go up to Trento”). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

au (Sette Comuni)

1. up, upwards

   au un abe ― up and down

   Au in de pèrghe machelts khalt

   Up in the mountains it is cold.

2. north, up north

   Ich ghéa au kan Triin.

   I'm going up north to Trento.

• abe, abar

• au, au
• denàu
• ghéenan au naach
• haltan au

• “au” in Martalar, Umberto Martello, Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo

• IPA^(key): [ˈau̯]

au

1. ouch

   Synonym: auvajs

• auw

• IPA^(key): /ɑu̯/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: au
• Rhymes: -ɑu̯

au

1. ouch!

   Au, ja dat doet pijn! ― Ouch, yeah that hurts!

• Negerhollands: au, o
• Petjo: aoew

au

1. H-system spelling of aŭ

From Proto-Finnic *auvo, itself possibly from Proto-Germanic *auja-, compare Old Norse ey (“luck, heavenly aid”) and Gothic 𐌰𐍅𐌹- (awi-) in 𐌰𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌸 (awiliuþ). Cognate to Finnish auvo and Livonian o’v. Possibly related to the verb avama.

au (genitive au, partitive au)

1. honour/honor, respect

Declension of au (ÕS type 26/koi, no gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		au	aud
accusative	nom.
	gen.	au
genitive			aude
partitive		au	ausid
illative		ausse	audesse
inessive		aus	audes
elative		aust	audest
allative		aule	audele
adessive		aul	audel
ablative		ault	audelt
translative		auks	audeks
terminative		auni	audeni
essive		auna	audena
abessive		auta	audeta
comitative		auga	audega

• aus

• auhind
• aupaklik
• ausõna
• autasu
• meheau
• mundriau

From Proto-Central-Pacific *au, from Proto-Oceanic *(i-)au, from Proto-Austronesian *(i-)aku.

au

1. I (personal pronoun)
2. me (direct object of a verb)
3. me (object of a preposition)
4. me (indirect object of a verb)
5. my (belonging to me)

Natural.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑu̯/, [ˈɑ̝u̯]
• Rhymes: -ɑu
• Syllabification^(key): au
• Hyphenation^(key): au

au

1. ow, ouch

• ai
• auts

• “au”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

• -ua

• IPA^(key): /o/

  • Audio (Paris):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -o
• Homophones: aulx, aux, eau, eaux, haut, hauts, ho, o, ô, oh, os

au (used with a singular masculine noun)

1. contraction of à le (“to the, for the, at the”)

   Synonym: à le — Louisiana

   Il étudie la musique au conservatoire.

   He studies music at the conservatory.

• à la
• à l'
• aux

• “au”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• ua

From Proto-Tani *fu.

au

1. grease, fat, oil

From Proto-Polynesian *au, from Proto-Oceanic *(i-)au, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Austronesian *(i-)aku.

• IPA^(key): /ˈau̯/, [ˈɐw], [ˈɔw] (rapid speech)

au

1. I (personal pronoun)

• Unlike other personal pronouns, au has a separate object form aʻu.

• wau

From Proto-Polynesian *qau, from Proto-Oceanic *qaʀus (compare with Fijian yau), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qaʀus (“current, flow” – compare with Malay arus, Tagalog agos).^[1]

au

1. era, period of time
2. current (water)
3. movement

• aumiki (“rip current”)

au

1. (intransitive) to flow
2. (intransitive) to move

• Pukui, Mary Kawena, Elbert, Samuel H. (1986) “au”, in Hawaiian Dictionary, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kahiw, from Proto-Austronesian *kaSiw.

au

1. tree

For pronunciation and definitions of au – see 漚 (“to soak for a prolonged period of time; to steep; to suppress one's feelings for a long time; etc.”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 漚).

For pronunciation and definitions of au – see 甌 (“cup”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 甌).

au

1. yes

• IPA^(key): [øyː]

au

1. An exclamation of awe and surprise; wow.

   Synonyms: nau, vá

au

1. Rōmaji transcription of あう

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *asu, from Proto-Austronesian *asu.

au

1. dog (animal)

• Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*asu”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI

• IPA^(key): /ɔ/

au (upper case Au)

1. A letter of the Kiowa alphabet.

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ai ai, Au au, Aui aui, B̶ b̶, B b, D̶ d̶, D d, E e, G̶ g̶, G g, H h, I i, K k, Kʼ kʼ, L l, M m, N n, n̶, O o, Oi oi, P p, Pʼ pʼ, S s, T t, Tʼ tʼ, Ts ts, Tsʼ tsʼ, U u, Ui ui, W w, Y y, Z z, ꞉

Inherited from Proto-Yeniseian *aw.

au

1. you (singular)

• Fortescue, Michael, Vajda, Edward (2022) Mid-Holocene Language Connections between Asia and North America (Brill's Studies in the Indigenous Languages of the Americas; 17)‎^[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 408

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈau̯]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈaːu̯]

au

1. alternative form of hau (“expressing pain or grief; oh! ah!”)

• “au”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “au”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• au in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qabu, from Proto-Austronesian *qabu.

• IPA^(key): [ˈau]

au (Lontara spelling ᨕᨕᨘ)

1. ash

• (Etymology 1) IPA^(key): [a.u]
  • Rhymes: -u
  • Hyphenation: a‧u
• (Etymology 2) IPA^(key): [au̯]
  • Rhymes: -au̯
  • Hyphenation: au

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *au, from Proto-Austronesian *au₂.

au (Jawi spelling اءو)

1. (Brunei, Sarawak) Used to express affirmation; yes.

   Synonyms: ya, haah, ia

From English ouch.

au (Jawi spelling او)

1. Used to express pain; ouch.

   Synonyms: aduh, adoi, waduh

• Au

• “au” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

From Proto-Polynesian *au, from Proto-Oceanic *(i-)au, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Austronesian *(i-)aku (compare with Malay aku, Tagalog ako.

• ahau

au

1. I (personal pronoun)
   • 2021, “Titokowaru”, performed by Alien Weaponry:

     Ka pīrangi au te kikokiko pākehā

     I crave the flesh of the Pakeha (white man)

2. me (direct object of a verb)
3. me (object of a preposition)
4. me (indirect object of a verb)

From Proto-Polynesian *qau, from Proto-Oceanic *qaʀus (compare with Fijian yau), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qaʀus (“current, flow” – compare with Malay arus, Tagalog agos).^[1]

au

1. current (water)

   Synonyms: kato, āwai, ia

2. whirlpool; rapid

   Synonym: ripo

3. wake (of a canoe, etc.)
4. sea; ocean

   Synonyms: tai, moana

From Proto-Polynesian *qahu, from Proto-Oceanic *qasu (“gall; gall bladder”).

au

1. gall; gall bladder

   Synonym: kouawai

From Proto-Polynesian *qahu (compare with Tahitian au, Tongan ʻahu, Samoan ʻasu), from Proto-Oceanic *qasu, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qasu (“smoke; fume; steam” – compare with Cebuano aso, Tagalog aso);^[1][2]

au

1. smoke

   Synonyms: auahi, paoa

2. cloud

   Synonyms: ao, kapua

3. mist; fog

   Synonyms: haumaringi, kohu

From Proto-Polynesian *(q)au (“howl, bark”).

au

1. to howl, bark (of a dog)

• Williams, Herbert William (1917) “au”, in A Dictionary of the Maori Language, page 4
• “au” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.

au

1. alternative form of awe

au

1. yes

• apia

• IPA^(key): /ˈau/, [ˈaw]

au

1. mouth

• koapin au (“chin”)

From Proto-Polynesian *au, from Proto-Oceanic *(i-)au, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Austronesian *(i-)aku.

au

1. I (personal pronoun)
2. me (direct object of a verb)
3. me (object of a preposition)
4. me (indirect object of a verb)
5. my (belonging to me)

From Old Norse auk.

au

1. also, too (used mostly in dialects)

• òg
• også

au!

1. ouch!

• “nb” in The Bokmål Dictionary / The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): /œʊː/

From Old Norse auk.

au

2. also, too

• òg
• ogso
• også

au!

2. ouch!

au

1. imperative of aua

• “au” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• al

au

1. contraction of a le (“to the”)

au

1. alternative spelling of áu (“ear”)

Onomatopoeic.

• IPA^(key): /ˈaw/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aw
• Syllabification: au

au

1. ouch (expression of one's own physical pain)

   Synonyms: aua, auć

• au in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• au in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• ai

• Rhymes: -aw
• Hyphenation: au

au

1. ouch (expression of minor physical pain)

• au au

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.u/
• Hyphenation: a‧u

From Proto-Polynesian *au. Cognates include Hawaiian au and Maori au.

au

1. I, me
   • 1995, Rapanui: A descriptive grammar‎^[3], page 153:

     Ko tikea 'a e au te moai nui nui ...

     I have seen a big statue.

     Note: This source does not show non-ambiguous glottal stops.

From Proto-Polynesian *qau (“current, flow”).

au

1. current

   He haro te vaka i te au.

   The boat is towed off course in the current.

• “au”, in Diccionario etimológico Rapanui-Español, Valparaíso: Comisión para la Estructuración de la Lengua Rapanui, 2000, →ISBN
• Veronica Du Feu (1996) Rapanui (Descriptive Grammars), Routledge, →ISBN, page 140
• Paulus Kieviet (2017) A grammar of Rapa Nui‎^[4], Berlin: Language Science Press, →ISBN, page 140

• aŭ — old orthography

• IPA^(key): /aw/

Probably from a Vulgar Latin *habunt,^[1] as a conjugated form of Latin habeō.

au

1. third-person plural present indicative of avea

   (they) have

au

1. (ele/ei) au (modal auxiliary, third-person plural form of avea, used with past participles to form perfect compus tenses)

   (they) have (+ past participle)

• am
• ai
• a
• ați

From Latin aut.

au

1. (rare, regional, archaic) or
   • 1883, Luceafărul, Mihai Eminescu, 149-152:

     Dar cum ai vrea să mă cobor?
     Au nu-nțelegi tu oare,
     Cum că eu sunt nemuritor,
     Și tu ești muritoare?

     But how would I descend to thee?
     Or don't you understand,
     That I am immortal
     And thou a mortal art?

• sau, ori

au

1. (interrogative, rhetorical) well?, (now) really?

• oare

Other scripts
Ajami	اَوُ

Borrowed from Arabic أَو (ʔaw).

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

au

1. or
   • 18th century, Abdallah bin Ali bin Nasir, Al-Inkishafi‎^[5], translation from R. Allen (1946) “Inkishafi—a translation from the Swahili”, in African Studies, volume 5, number 4, →DOI, pages 243–249, stanza 15:

     اَوُ اِغَ فُمْبِ لَمُوَاغَزَ ، وَقَتِ وَيُوَ لِكِتُپُوْزَ

     Au enga vumbi la-muangaza, waqati wa-yua likitupuza;

     Or when the sun shines, see the mote in its ray

• ama

From Proto-Polynesian *au, from Proto-Oceanic *(i-)au, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Austronesian *(i-)aku.

au

1. I (personal pronoun)
2. me (direct object of a verb)
3. me (object of a preposition)
4. me (indirect object of a verb)
5. my (belonging to me)

au

1. to sew

• âu

From Proto-Tai *ʔawᴬ (“to take”). Cognate with Northern Thai ᩐᩣ, Lao ເອົາ (ē ʼ), Lü ᦀᧁ (˙ʼaw), Tai Dam ꪹꪮꪱ, Shan ဢဝ် (ʼǎo), Ahom 𑜒𑜧 (ʼaw) or 𑜒𑜧𑜈𑜫 (ʼaww) or 𑜒𑜨𑜧 (ʼow), Zhuang aeu, Thai เอา (ao).

• (Thạch An – Tràng Định) IPA^(key): [ʔaw˧˧]
• (Trùng Khánh) IPA^(key): [ʔaw˦˥]

au (㓜)

1. to take; to seize; to receive

   au chèn ― to seize money

2. to marry

   au căn ― to marry each other

• Lương Bèn (2011) Từ điển Tày-Việt [Tay-Vietnamese dictionary]‎^[6][7] (in Vietnamese), Thái Nguyên: Nhà Xuất bản Đại học Thái Nguyên
• Dương Nhật Thanh, Hoàng Tuấn Nam (2003) Hoàng Triều Ân, editor, Từ điển chữ Nôm Tày [A Dictionary of (chữ) Nôm Tày]‎^[8] (in Tày and Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học xã hội [Social Sciences Publishing House]
• Léopold Michel Cadière (1910) Dictionnaire Tày-Annamite-Français [Tày-Vietnamese-French Dictionary]‎^[9] (in French), Hanoi: Impressions d'Extrême-Orient

From Proto-North Halmahera *aun (“blood”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.u/

au

1. blood

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qauʀ, compare Indonesian aur.

au

1. bamboo

From Proto-North Halmahera *aun (“blood”).

au

1. blood

• IPA^(key): [ˈa.u]
• Hyphenation: a‧u

From Proto-Polynesian *au. Cognates include Hawaiian au and Samoan a'u.

au

1. I, me

From Proto-Polynesian *-u. Cognates include Hawaiian āu and Samoan āu.

au

1. (alienable) thy, your

From Proto-Polynesian *aqu. Cognates include Tongan aʻu and Samoan au.

au

1. (intransitive, + ki) to reach
2. (stative) to be matured at birth

From Proto-Polynesian *qau. Cognats include Hawaiian au and Maori au.

au

1. current, flow (of water)

From Proto-Polynesian *qahu. Cognates include Hawaiian au and Samoan au.

au

1. gall, bile
2. gall bladder

From Proto-Polynesian *hau. Cognates include Maori au and Samoan au.

au

1. needle for thatching
2. comb of needles for tattooing

• R. Simona, editor (1986), Tokelau Dictionary‎^[10], Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 3

• ou

From Proto-Polynesian *au, from Proto-Oceanic *(i-)au, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Austronesian *(i-)aku.

• IPA^(key): /a.u/

au

1. I (personal pronoun)
2. me (direct object of a verb)
3. me (object of a preposition)
4. me (indirect object of a verb)
5. my (belonging to me)

From Proto-Polynesian *au, from Proto-Oceanic *(i-)au, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Austronesian *(i-)aku.

au

1. I (personal pronoun)
2. me (direct object of a verb)
3. me (object of a preposition)
4. me (indirect object of a verb)
5. my (belonging to me)

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔaw˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔaw˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔa(ː)w˧˧]

• Audio (Saigon):

  (file)

au

1. (of color, usually red) bright, lively

• Hồ Ngọc Đức, editor (2003), “au”, in Việt–Việt‎^[11] (DICT), Leipzig: Free Vietnamese Dictionary Project (details), archived from the original on 12 November 2024

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.u/

au

1. (transitive) to climb, ascend

   taau to pu ― I climb the mountain

2. (intransitive, of the moon) to rise

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[12], Pacific linguistics (as aw)
• James Collins (1982) Further Notes Towards a West Makian Vocabulary‎^[13], Pacific linguistics

au

1. yes

From Proto-Tai *ʔaːwᴬ (“father's younger brother”). Cognate with Thai อาว (aao), Ahom 𑜒𑜧 (`ao), Lao ອາວ (ʼāo) and Tày áo.

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /ʔaːu˨˦/
• Tone numbers: au¹
• Hyphenation: au

au (Sawndip forms 𰠍 or 傲 or ⿰𫠤处 or ⿰男要 or 嗷 or 敖 or 奧 or 𬽱 or ⿰父教 or 𬿪, 1957–1982 spelling au)

1. uncle (father's younger brother)

• lungz
• baj
• gux