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 "excerpt": "U (u), 21st letter of the English alphabet and fifth vowel; historically one letter with V in Latin, split into vowel u and consonant v by 1630s printers; Unicode U+0055/U+0075.",
 "snippet": "U (u), 21st letter of the English alphabet and fifth vowel; historically one letter with V in Latin, split into vowel u and consonant v by 1630s printers; Unicode U+0055/U+0075.",
 "node": "society.language.writing.writing.latin",
 "markdown": "# U\n\n**U** (lowercase u) is the 21st letter of the modern [English alphabet](https://www.edgepedia.org/english-alphabet) and its fifth vowel<sup>[1](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/u)</sup>. In the ancient Roman alphabet it was the 20th letter and was identical in form and origin with V, the same symbol serving both as a vowel and as a consonant<sup>[2](https://wehd.com/98/U.html)</sup>. The separation of U and V into distinct letters is a development of manuscript writing and early printing, completed only in the seventeenth century.\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Position | 21st letter of the modern English alphabet; fifth vowel<sup>[1](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/u)</sup> |\n| Roman origin | Identical in form and origin with V; one symbol used as both vowel and consonant<sup>[2](https://wehd.com/98/U.html)</sup> |\n| Round form | The modified form u appears in uncial manuscripts from the third or fourth century, continuing in half-uncial (from c. 500) and minuscule manuscripts<sup>[2](https://wehd.com/98/U.html)</sup> |\n| Alphabet size | Until the early seventeenth century the standard Latin alphabet had 23 letters; u and v were letterforms of one letter, and w was not part of it<sup>[3](https://www.itsmarc.com/crs/mergedprojects/rarebks/rarebks/appendix_g4._letterforms_i_j%2C_u_v%2C_i_j%2C_and_u_v.htm)</sup> |\n| Printing convention | Printers before the 1630s used v initially and u medially: *unto* as \"vnto\", *even* as \"euen\"<sup>[4](https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/ceres/ehoc/conventions.html)</sup> |\n| Minim avoidance | Middle English substituted -o- for -u- before -m-, -n-, or -r-, giving *come*, *monk*, *tongue*, *worm*<sup>[5](https://www.etymonline.com/word/U)</sup> |\n| Unicode | U+0055 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U; U+0075 LATIN SMALL LETTER U<sup>[6](https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode1.1.0/appI.pdf)</sup> |\n\n## Latin origins\n\nIn Latin manuscripts written in capitals the form V was retained. The rounded form that became u first appears in uncial manuscripts, of which the earliest specimens belong to the third or fourth century, and it continues in the later half-uncial manuscripts (from about 500) and minuscule manuscripts (from the eighth century)<sup>[2](https://wehd.com/98/U.html)</sup>. The 1911 [Encyclopædia Britannica](https://www.edgepedia.org/encyclop-dia-britannica) describes u as a modification made in manuscript writing of the Latin inscriptional V, found on the inscriptions of Rome as early as the latter part of the second century AD<sup>[7](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/U)</sup>.\n\n[Classical Latin](https://www.edgepedia.org/classical-latin) had no separate letter u. Nineteenth-century Latin textbooks that excluded u from the alphabet nonetheless conceded that it was used in Classical Latin as printed, with the *Eton Latin Grammar* noting that u was used as a vowel \"for convenience of distinction\" from v<sup>[8](https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33080/1/SKirk%20thesis_master_corrected.pdf)</sup>.\n\n## One letter, two forms\n\nUntil the early seventeenth century, the standard [Latin alphabet](https://www.edgepedia.org/latin-alphabet) contained 23 letters. The letters now written i and j were considered different minuscule shapes of the same letter, and the same was true of u and v; the letter w was not part of the standard Latin alphabet at all<sup>[3](https://www.itsmarc.com/crs/mergedprojects/rarebks/rarebks/appendix_g4._letterforms_i_j%2C_u_v%2C_i_j%2C_and_u_v.htm)</sup>. A printer's choice between the u letterform and the v letterform depended on the letter's placement in a word and was governed by convention, which varied from printer to printer and often reflected national and regional preferences<sup>[3](https://www.itsmarc.com/crs/mergedprojects/rarebks/rarebks/appendix_g4._letterforms_i_j%2C_u_v%2C_i_j%2C_and_u_v.htm)</sup>.\n\n**The positional convention.** In Middle English, after continental usage, the two symbols u and v were employed without clear distinction in value, each denoting either the vowel or the consonant<sup>[2](https://wehd.com/98/U.html)</sup>. The working rule was positional: v at the beginning of a word and u within it. So *unto* was spelled \"vnto\" and *even* was spelled \"euen\"<sup>[4](https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/ceres/ehoc/conventions.html)</sup>. From the 1630s onwards, printers began using the u letterform to denote the vowel and the v graph to denote the consonant; before that time there was only one recognized letter, written or printed in two ways<sup>[4](https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/ceres/ehoc/conventions.html)</sup>. Etymonline records that the modern distinction was established around 1630 under the influence of continental printers, though some dictionaries and catalogues continued to list -u- spellings into the nineteenth century<sup>[5](https://www.etymonline.com/word/U)</sup>.\n\nThe same interchangeability appears in Scottish documents. Grant Simpson, in his book *Scottish Handwriting 1150-1650*, reports a tendency in the later Middle Ages to use v at the beginning of a word and u within it, so that *unused* might be written \"vnused\"; the three letters u, v, and w were all used interchangeably, so *underwoven* might appear as \"wndervouen\"<sup>[9](https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/scottish-handwriting/coaching/letter-finder/letters-u-v-and-w)</sup>. Scottish manuscripts also use the quh spelling for wh words: *quhat* (what), *quhair* (where), *quhilk* (which), and *quha* (who)<sup>[9](https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/scottish-handwriting/coaching/letter-finder/letters-u-v-and-w)</sup>.\n\n## The letter w\n\nThe letter w was not part of the Latin alphabet but was introduced in English during the Middle Ages<sup>[10](https://www.library.illinois.edu/rbx/2016/04/01/the-double-life-of-the-letter-u/)</sup>. It was invented in the Middle Ages as simply a double u, and its form is a double v while its name is \"double u\", which attests to the interchangeability of u and v throughout the Middle Ages<sup>[10](https://www.library.illinois.edu/rbx/2016/04/01/the-double-life-of-the-letter-u/)</sup>. This history also explains why English does not call the letter \"double-v\"<sup>[4](https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/ceres/ehoc/conventions.html)</sup>.\n\nIn early printing, W and w type pieces were scanty in cases of roman type and were frequently exhausted when setting Dutch, English, or German text. Compositors alternatively represented W and w with VV or vv, or else modified V or v sort permanently by filing or shaving off a serif so that the two sorts could sit side by side in the forme and look like a w; in early German printing, a rounded r followed by a v was sometimes used as a stand-in for w<sup>[11](https://www.itsmarc.com/crs/mergedprojects/rarebks/rarebks/appendix_g5._letter_w.htm)</sup>.\n\n## Minims and the substituted o\n\nThe shape of u caused a practical problem in medieval handwriting. While angular script was in vogue, scribes made a practice of steering clear of u when it stood near n, m, or a second u (v, w), since confusion could easily arise: a run of five strokes could be taken for iini, inu, mu, um, uni, or vui, above all when the i carried no dot. This is why o came to be used, and it persists in numerous words such as *monk*, *money*, *honey*, *come*, *won*, *wonder*, *cover*, and *love*<sup>[12](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED013817.pdf)</sup>.\n\nEtymonline traces this substitution to a French scribal habit before minims, the short downstrokes that jammed together in old-style handwriting, and credits it with transforming *some*, *come*, *monk*, *tongue*, and *worm*<sup>[5](https://www.etymonline.com/word/U)</sup>.\n\n## U in computing\n\nIn the Unicode Standard, an individual code point is expressed as U+n, where n is four to six hexadecimal digits<sup>[13](https://www.unicode.org/versions/latest/appA.pdf)</sup>. The letter U itself is encoded as U+0055 (LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U) and u as U+0075 (LATIN SMALL LETTER U)<sup>[6](https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode1.1.0/appI.pdf)</sup>. Accented forms occupy nearby code points in the Latin-1 Supplement, such as U+00D9 (Ù), U+00DA (Ú), U+00DB (Û), and U+00DC (Ü)<sup>[14](https://lhncbc.nlm.nih.gov/LSG/Projects/lvg/current/docs/designDoc/UDF/unicode/MapTables/Latin-1.html)</sup>.\n\n## References\n\n1. [U, Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/u)\n2. [U. World English Historical Dictionary (Murray's New English Dictionary, 1926, rev. 2022)](https://wehd.com/98/U.html)\n3. [Appendix G4. Letterforms I/J, U/V, i/j, and u/v, Cataloger's Reference Shelf](https://www.itsmarc.com/crs/mergedprojects/rarebks/rarebks/appendix_g4._letterforms_i_j%2C_u_v%2C_i_j%2C_and_u_v.htm)\n4. [English Handwriting 1500-1700: An Online Course, Cambridge](https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/ceres/ehoc/conventions.html)\n5. [U - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary](https://www.etymonline.com/word/U)\n6. [The Unicode Standard, Version 1.1, Appendix I: Unicode 1.1 Character List](https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode1.1.0/appI.pdf)\n7. [1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/U, Wikisource](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/U)\n8. [S. Kirk, 4.2.1 The Latin Alphabet, University of Nottingham thesis](https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33080/1/SKirk%20thesis_master_corrected.pdf)\n9. [Letters u, v and w, Scotland's People](https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/scottish-handwriting/coaching/letter-finder/letters-u-v-and-w)\n10. [The Double Life of the Letter \"U\", Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Illinois](https://www.library.illinois.edu/rbx/2016/04/01/the-double-life-of-the-letter-u/)\n11. [Appendix G5. Letter w, Cataloger's Reference Shelf](https://www.itsmarc.com/crs/mergedprojects/rarebks/rarebks/appendix_g5._letter_w.htm)\n12. [Traditional spelling and the substitution of o (ERIC document ED013817)](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED013817.pdf)\n13. [The Unicode Standard, Appendix A: Notational Conventions](https://www.unicode.org/versions/latest/appA.pdf)\n14. [Lexical Tools: Latin-1 Map Tables, NLM](https://lhncbc.nlm.nih.gov/LSG/Projects/lvg/current/docs/designDoc/UDF/unicode/MapTables/Latin-1.html)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Languages and linguistics › Writing and notation systems › Latin script*\n\n*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n",
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 "credit": "\"U\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/u. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.",
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 "speakable": "U, 21st letter of the English alphabet and fifth vowel; historically one letter with V in Latin, split into vowel u and consonant v by 1630s printers; Unicode U+0055/U+0075."
}