Q

Q is the 17th letter of the Latin alphabet.

The Semiit sound value of Qôp was /q/. In Greek this sign (called Qoppa in Greek) probably came to represent several labial plosives, among them /k_w/ and /k_w_h/. These sounds changed to /p/ and /p_h/ respectively. Therefore, Qoppa was transformed into two letters: Qoppa, which stood for a number only, and Φι (Phi) which stood for the aspirated sound /p_h/ that came to be pronounced /f/ in Modern Greek. The Etruscans used Q only in conjunction with V, symbolizing thus a /k_w/. and V. Some scholars claim that Q and Phi are unrelated.

In most modern languages, Q is rather superfluous; in Romance and Germanic languages it usually appears followed by the letter u. In English this digraph most often denotes the cluster /kw/, as it does in Italian (where [w] is an allophone of /u/); in German, /kv/; and in French, Spanish, and Catalan, /k/. (In Spanish, "qu" replaces c for /k/ before the vowels i and e, since in those contexts c is a fricative.). In the Azeri, Uzbek, and Tatar languages, Q is pronounced the same as the Semitic sound q.

Quebec represents the letter Q in the NATO phonetic alphabet.

Meanings for Q

In biochemistry, Q is the symbol for glutamine.
in chess, Q is a notation symbol for the queen piece
In computing, Q is the name of an "equational programming language"; see Q programming language.
In engineering, Q is a symbol for characterizing filters; see Q factor. Q stands for quality.
In English, Q can be an abbreviation for 'question'.
In film, Q is a character in the James Bond series; see Q (James Bond) (see also: science fiction, below).
in financial securities, Q is the stock symbol for Qwest Communications International Inc.
In international licence plate codes, Q stands for Qatar.
In literature,
- Q is the title of a historical novel by Luther Blissett; see Q (novel).
- Q is the pen name of writer Arthur Quiller-Couch.
- Q is the leading character in the famous Chinese novel A True Story of Ah Q by Lu Xun. Because of this novel, "Ah Q" in China means someone who always claims spiritual victory despite frequent defeat.
In marketing, Q is sometimes used as a synonym for Q Score
In mathematics, blackboard bold represents the rational numbers.
In medicine, Q is the name of a bacterial infection; see Q fever.
In military science, Q is the name for anti-submarine ships; see Q-ship.
In phonetics, lowercase [q] is the International Phonetic Alphabet symbol for the voiceless uvular plosive.
In physics, Q is a symbol for electric charge or heat.
In publishing, Q is the name of a British music magazine; see Q magazine
In science fiction, Q is a character in several Star Trek spin-off series; see Q (Star Trek).
In theology, Q is an abbreviation used by scholars of the New Testament to describe the Q document, a hypothetical lost written "Source" (German, Quelle, hence, Q) behind the Synoptic Gospels.
Q was also the name for a number of comedy series written by and starring Spike Milligan

Two-letter combinations starting with Q:

qa qb qc qd qe qf qg qh qi qj qk ql qm qn qo qp qq qr qs qt qu qv qw qx qy qz