Q
/kjuː/noun
The seventeenth letter of the English alphabet.
Did you know?In English orthography, Q is almost always followed by U because the letter came into Latin from earlier alphabets where the same sign represented a /k/ sound that later became specialized.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Sinaitic
PS
qōp
“A sign likely associated with a monkey or a knot-like mark, used for a guttural consonant”
Phoenician
Phoen
qōp
“A letter representing a back-of-the-throat /q/ sound”
Ancient Greek
Greek
qoppa
“An obsolete letter used for a /k/ sound before back vowels”
Latin
Latin
Q
“A letter used mainly before V to represent /kw/ or /k/ + rounded vowel”
Old English
English
cweorð
“English writing adopted Q through Latin spelling conventions, especially in loanwords”
Modern English
English
Q
“The letter Q, usually pronounced with a following /u/ sound in English”