GNU

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• /ɡəˈn(j)uː/
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• uncommon: /ˈd͡ʒiːˌɛnˈjuː/
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• US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• rhymes with -uː
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• homophone: gnu (one pronunciation)
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• /ˈd͡ʒiːˌɛnˈjuː/
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• Received-Pronunciation: /njuː/
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• UK: /njuː/
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• UK: /ɡəˈnuː/
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• UK: /ɡəˈnjuː/
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• Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• US: /nuː/
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• US: /njuː/
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• homophone: new
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• homophone: nu
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• homophone: knew
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• homophone: GNU (UK)
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• CMU ARPABET: N UW1 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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Etymology tree ▲ English GNU Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Germanic *ne Proto-West Germanic *ne Proto-Indo-European *h2ey- Proto-Indo-European *-u Proto-Indo-European *h2óyu Proto-Indo-European *-osinflu. Proto-Germanic *aiwaz Proto-West Germanic *aiw univ. Proto-West Germanic *naiw Proto-Indo-European *wekw- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *wékwtisder.? Proto-Indo-European *weǵh- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *wéǵhtisder.? Proto-Germanic *wihtą Proto-West Germanic *wiht Proto-West Germanic *naiwwiht Old English nāwiht Old English *nōht Middle English nought Middle English not English not Proto-Indo-European *mel-der. Proto-Indo-European *ml̥tós? Proto-Italic *moltos Latin multi- Proto-Indo-European *pel-der.? Latin -plex Latin multiplexlbor. English multiplexed Proto-Indo-European *h1én Proto-Italic *en Proto-Italic *en- Latin in- Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ)der.? Latin fōrma Latin fōrmō Latin īnfōrmō Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Late Latin īnfōrmātiōder. Middle English enformacioun English information Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Latin com- Latin putus Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh2yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h2tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin putō Latin computō Latin computārelbor. French computerbor. English computing Proto-Indo-European *ser-der.? Proto-Italic *serwos Latin servus Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Latin -itia Latin servitiumbor. Old French servisebor. Old English serfis Middle English servise English service English Multiplexed Information and Computing Service English Multics ▲ English eunuchinflu. English Unix English gnuinflu. English GNU's not Unixacronym English GNU Coined by Richard Stallman in 1983 as a recursive acronym for “GNU's Not Unix”, following convention of naming programs similar to or inspired by existing programs as “(New Name) Is Not (Old Name)”; compare Xinu. Specifically influenced by lack of English words of form ?nu (“?NU is Not Unix”), that gnu is the alphabetically first (and in fact only) English word of the form ?nu (“?’s Not Unix”), that gnu was perceived as a humorous word, and the existence of the song “The Gnu”.

From Dutch gnoe, from Khoekhoe ǃnu:, of unknown origin, likely onomatopoeic of the grunt-type noise of the gnu.

82 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Afrikaans: wildebees — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Arabic: نَوّ (naww) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Assamese: নু পহু (nu pohu) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Asturian: ñu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Avar: гну (gnu) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Azerbaijani: qnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Bashkir: гну (gnu) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Basque: ñu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Breton: gnou — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Bulgarian: гну (gnu) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Burmese: ဆတ်ကျွဲ (hcatkywai:) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Catalan: nyu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Chinese Mandarin: 牛羚 (niúlíng) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Chinese Mandarin: 角馬 /角马 (jiǎomǎ) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Cornish: bualgarow — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Czech: pakůň — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Danish: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Dutch: gnoe — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Esperanto: gnuo — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Faroese: gnýur — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Finnish: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Finnish: gnuu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• French: gnou — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• North Frisian: gnuus — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Galician: ñu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Georgian: გნუ (gnu) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• German: Gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Greek: γκνου (gknou) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Hebrew: גנו (g'nu) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Hindi: विल्डबीस्ट (vilḍabīsṭ) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Hungarian: gnú — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Icelandic: gnýr — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Indonesian: wildebes — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Indonesian: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Irish: gnú — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Italian: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Italian: kokoon — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Japanese: ヌー (nū) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Japanese: 牛氈鹿 (ushikamoshika) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Javanese: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Kabyle: agnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Korean: 누 (nu) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Kyrgyz: гну (gnu) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Latvian: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Lezgi: гну (gnu) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Lithuanian: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Lithuanian: antilopės gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Macedonian: гну (gnu) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Malagasy: gno — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Malay: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Malayalam: വിൽഡെബീസ്റ്റ് (vilḍebīsṟṟŭ) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Eastern Mari: гну (gnu) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Navajo: jádí dághaaʼígíí — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Northern Sotho: kgokong — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Norwegian Bokmål: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Norwegian Nynorsk: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Nǀuu: ǀee — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Occitan: gno — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Polish: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Polish: antylopa gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Portuguese: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Punjabi: ਵਿਲਡਬੀਸਟ (vilḍabīsaṭ) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Punjabi: ਗ੍ਨੂ (gnū) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Quechua: ñu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Romanian: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Romansh: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Russian: гну (gnu) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Russian: антило́па-гну (antilópa-gnu) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Shona: ngongoni — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Slovene: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Upper Sorbian: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Spanish: ñu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Swahili: nyumbu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Swahili: mbogo — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Swedish: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Tagalog: nyu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Tagalog: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Tatar: гну (gnu) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Turkish: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Udmurt: гну (gnu) — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Uzbek: gnu — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes
• Vietnamese: linh dương đầu bò — large antelope of the genus Connochaetes