| 释义 |
Y|waɪ|
pl. Y's, Ys |waɪz|, the twenty-fifth letter of the modern and twenty-third of the ancient Roman alphabet, representing ultimately Y, υ (u psilon) of the Greek alphabet, a differentiated form of the primitive V which has given also U and V. It was adopted first in the Latin alphabet in the form V to express |u| and |w|, and was later (after b.c. 100) readopted in the form Y to represent the υ of borrowed Greek words.
The name of the letter in the Romanic languages, ‘Greek i’ (e.g. F. i grec, Sp. i griega), and the Ger. name ipsilon, It. ipsilon, -onne († yssilonne), and Pg. ypsilon, preserve the fact of its Greek origin. The English name wy |waɪ| is of obscure origin.
The earliest available English evidence is in the MS. of the Ormulum, col. 109 (l. 4320), where ƿı is written, app. in the first hand (c 1200), over ẏ, the fifth letter of the name IESOẎS. Nothing certain is known about the historical relationship of the English name to the name vı or uı attributed to ‘the Greek y’ in the grammatical treatise (a 1150) contained in the Edda, or to the ui or gui of some OF. systems. Gawin Douglas rhymes Y with sky (see quot. 1513 in sense 2 below); other early references to the name are:—
1573Baret Alv., Y hath bene taken for a greeke vowel among our latin Grammarians a great while, which me thinke if we marke well we shall finde to be rather a diphthong: for it appeareth to be compounded of u and i, which both spelled togither soundeth as we write Wy. 1580Bullokar Amendm. Orthogr. 8 The olde name of :y: (which is wy).
(1) The letter of which our y is the direct representative occurs from the earliest times in OE. script to express the i-mutation of u. It had various forms ranging from those resembling the Greek u psilon, in which the tops of the limbs turn outwards in opposite directions, to those in which both limbs turn in the same direction, whether to the right (forming an f-like character) or to the left. This last type with the right shank continued leftwards below the line was the form that prevailed in ME. script, and which, with the top closed ({bly}), became identical with the debased forms of þ: see (3) below. Most forms of the OE. y in the earliest manuscripts are written with a superposed dot, which is also a feature of the y in contemporary manuscripts of Latin texts. The dot fell out of use towards the end of the eighth century, but was revived towards the end of the tenth. The dotted y continued throughout the ME. period, and was carried into some of the early founts of type (e.g. in The Book of St. Albans of 1486 the dotted y is employed in the larger, but not in the smaller type).
In later (West-Saxon) OE., y was written alternatively for i, e.g. as representing older ie, as in cyle, onᵹytan, yld, for ciele, onᵹietan, ield; and, as its function of expressing rounded i |ʏ, y| was usurped by u in imitation of French usage, it became ultimately a possible substitute for vocalic i in any position. This use had become established by the middle of the 13th century, and, thenceforward, with the deterioration of script, y came to serve as a convenient means of breaking up an ambiguous series of minims produced by a succession of i, u, n, m, as nym, myn, ynumen, unymete, for nim, min, inumen, unimete. This free use of y was continued through the ME. period, and the tradition lasted for a long period after the introduction of printing; but i was gradually restored to its place, the resulting orthographic convention being that y is retained: (i) for final i-sounds, as in fly, family, daily, destroy (formerly spelt also flie and flye, familie and familye, etc.), only alien words being spelt with final i; (ii) in Greek words, representing υ, as in hymn; (iii) before i, in inflexional forms of verbs ending in y or ie, as flying, lying, tying, not fliing, etc.; (iv) in the plural of nouns ending in y preceded by another written vowel, as boy boys, ray rays, alley alleys, money moneys (but monies is still common, and vallies, monkies, etc. were equally so until recently). Particular usages, not falling under these categories, are the use of y to distinguish dye from die, and the fluctuation between flyer and flier, tyre and tire, gipsy and gypsy, tiro and tyro, siphon and syphon, cipher and cypher, silva and sylva (see each word for the special circumstances).
In some texts y is found substituted for i = French j |dʒ|; e.g. in Shoreham's Poems manyour is written for maniour = manger, in Ayenbite yyoyned for yioyned joined, in the Camb. MS. of the 15th century version of Guy of Warwick occur yoye, yolye, yelowse, harbenyoure, soyourned = joy, jolly, jealous, harbinger, sojourned.
(2) About the middle of the 13th century y began to be used to represent the voiced palatal spirant |j|, taking the place of the character ȝ (called yogh, q.v.) in one of its values. ȝ is a loosely written form of OE. ᵹ, which had become appropriated in early ME. script to the guttural and palatal spirants, while the continental g was appropriated to the voiced guttural and palatal stops (though in some MSS. g stands for all these sounds: cf. G). The practice of contemporary scribes varied considerably, some restricting y to its vocalic use, others using it freely for both consonant and vowel. Northern scribes of the 14th and 15th centuries often write yh for y initially, as yhit, yheyt, yet, yher year, yhoung young.
In many late ME. scripts ȝ became identical in form with z, and it was retained by Scottish printers in this form; e.g. printed zer, fenzeit, Dalziel, represent yer year, fenyeit feigned, Dalyiel: see further s.v. Z.
(3) Another value of y arises from the assimilation of y and þ, the runic thorn (see th), which had become indistinguishable from each other in some MSS. of the early 14th century (e.g. the Cotton MS. of Cursor Mundi). After 1400 þ fell more and more out of use, and in some scripts was represented only by the y-form in the compendia y⊇, yt or yat, yei, ym, yu = the, that, they, them, thou, and the like, many of which continued to be extensively employed in manuscript in the 17th and 18th centuries. Two of these, y⊇ or yͤ, yt or yͭ, were retained in printers' types during the 15th and 16th centuries, but often with a form of y somewhat different from that used in other positions. (In Sir John Cheke's translation of the New Testament, a dotted y stands for th.) In manuscript (e.g. in letter-writing) y⊇ lasted well into the 19th century. It is still often used pseudo-archaically, jocularly, or vulgarly (pronounced as ye), e.g. in Lewis Carroll's ‘Ye Carpette Knyghte’, and in shop-signs like ‘Y⊇ Olde Booke Shoppe’.
c1340Cursor M. 17033–4 (MS. Cott. Vesp. A III, lf. 94 b) And es naman yt es in skil yat agh sai her again. 14..Agincourt Song (Pepys MS.), Þat tounn he wan and mad a fray Yat fraunce xal rewe tyl domysday. c1500Promp. Parv. (Middle Hill MS.) 535 note1, Yanne or thann,..Yowtyng or thowtyng. Ibid. (MS. note in Brit. Mus. Copy of Pynson's ed.), All these Y. stande for Th. acordinge as the Saxon caracte was in this sorte þ. 1508Chapman & Myllar Prints (S.T.S. 1918) 171 Thou ryall king all yis suld reull yi realme. 1551Sir W. Pickering Let. to Sir W. Cecil in Nat. MSS. II. l, At pares y⊇ 27 of octobre. 1665Caldwell Papers (Maitland Club) I. 62 Without any interuption yrupon. Ibid. 63 It may be clearlie answered yrto. 1680P. Henry Diaries & Lett. (1882) 292 Bo[reatton] where ld Paget yen was. 1705J. Rogers in Mrs. E. Montagu's Corr. (1906) I. 145, I had notice by my Mother yt you had ordered me {pstlg}40. 1741Dk. Portland ibid. 76, j am to inform you yt ye Duchess continues as well as can be, and ye Babe too. 1745Mrs. Robinson ibid. 225 [He] told ym yt ye French was landing in the Marsh.
Pronunciation. The vocalic sounds now normally expressed by y are:—
1. |ɪ|, as in hymn |hɪm|, synonymy |sɪˈnɒnɪmɪ|, silly |ˈsɪlɪ|; in unstressed syllables there is more or less reduction or obscuration.
2. |aɪ|, as in my |maɪ|, deny |dɪˈnaɪ|.
3. |aɪə|, as in lyre |laɪə(r)|.
4. |ɜː|, as in myrtle |ˈmɜːt(ə)l|.
5. |ə|, as in satyr |ˈsætə(r)|.
With a, e, o, u, it forms combinations having special values:—ay (final) = |eɪ|, as in lay |leɪ|, essay |ˈɛseɪ|, = |aɪ| in aye |aɪ|; = |iː| in quay |kiː|, = |ɛ| in says |sɛz|; ey = |eɪ|, as in obey |əʊˈbeɪ|, convey |kənˈveɪ|, = |ɪ|, as in alley |ˈælɪ|, honey |ˈhʌnɪ|, = |aɪ| in eye |aɪ| and its derivatives, = |ɛə| in eyre |ɛə(r)|; oy = |ɔɪ|, as in boy |bɔɪ|, annoy |əˈnɔɪ|; uy (rare) = |aɪ| in buy |baɪ|.
The consonantal sound expressed by y is denoted in this Dictionary by |j|, as yew, you |juː|.
II.
1. a. The letter or its sound.
c1000ælfric Gram. ii. (Z.) 5 To ðisum [a, e, i, o, u] is ᵹenumen se grecisca y for intingan greciscra namena, and se ylca y is on engliscum ᵹewritum swiðe ᵹewunelic. c1440Promp. Parv. 79/1 Quere plura vocabula similem sonum istis habencia in S literâ, ubi I vel Y sequitur hanc literam S immediate. [c1465Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 2 A. .ȝ. for yorke.] 1521Barclay Introd. Fr. B ij b, But specyally y: muste be wryten for I, in y⊇ ende of englysshe wordes, and whan n: m, or u, is wryten before, or behynde it. 1530Palsgr. 16 The writtynge of i and y in any frenche worde, eyther alone or as part of a diphthong, causeth no difference in sounde. 1599in Promp. Parv. (Camden) 536 note, All these wordes of ȝ we pronounce with Y at this daye, and some of these ȝ here vsed haue that place of G in oure spekinge and writinge at this daye. 1636B. Jonson Eng. Gram. i. iii, Y is also mere vowelish in our tongue, and hath only the power of an i, even where it obtains the seat of a consonant. 1693Dryden Disc. Satire Ess. (1900) II. 67 [Satire] ought to be with i, and not with y, to distinguish its true derivation from satura, not from satyrus. 1755Johnson Dict., Gram. a 2 b, It may be observed of y as of w, that it follows a vowel without any hiatus, as rosy youth. 1785Pinkerton Lett. Lit. xxxiv. 243 [Ending] in y we have no less than 4900 words, about an eighth of our language; our words amounting to about 35,000. 1848Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton xxii, Tails of ys and gs. 1874‘Max Adeler’ Out of Hurly-burly ix. (Rtldg.) 121 The Smith that spells without a y is not the Smith for me!
b. Used for the Greek letter υ (u psilon), esp. as a Pythagorean symbol: see quots.
1430–40Lydg. Bochas ii. xv. (MS. Bodl. 263) lf. 117/2 Pithagorus..Fond first out y a figur to discerne The liff heer short and liff that is eterne. 1587Greene Tritam. Love Wks. (Grosart) III. 96 Did not Pythagoras compare vertue to the letter Y, which is small at the foot but broad at the top: meaning that to obtaine vertue is verie painefull, but the possession thereof passing pleasant? 1616B. Holyday Persius iii. 119 The Samian letter Y Whose spreading branches teach Philosophie, Hath marked out..The high-rear'd right-hand path, wherein to walke. 1693Dryden Persius iii. (1697) 443 Where the Samian Y directs thy Steps to run, To Virtue's narrow Steep, and Broad-way Vice to shun. 1771Encycl. Brit. I. 272/1 The other two divaricate, like the branches of the greek Y.
2. The letter considered with regard to its shape; a figure or marking of this shape. Also Comb. y-shaped adj.
1513Douglas æneis vii. Prol. 120 Palamedes byrdis crouping in the sky, Fleand on randoune schapin lik ane Y. 1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. v. 871, I hear the Crane (if I mistake not) cry: Who in the Clouds forming the forkéd Y,..Instructeth Souldiers in the Art of War. a1817T. Dwight Trav. New Eng., etc. (1821) II. 265 The centre of the town is a pretty expansion, in the form of the Roman Y. 1849Rock Ch. Fathers I. v. 324 note, A rich orphrey..dividing itself a little way below the neck, takes the shape of the letter Y, and passes, in that form, over the shoulders. 1861H. Hagen Syn. Neuroptera N. Amer. 214 Between the antennæ is a black Y. 1874Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 511 The bucket is then lowered into the Y-shaped rests. 1907C. C. Brown China xvi. 233 A Y-shaped divining rod.
3. a. A contrivance or piece of apparatus in the form of the letter Y; esp. a forked support for a telescope, theodolite, or piece of mechanism. Also attrib., as Y axis, Y bearing, Y piece; Y branch, a piece of piping with a branch at an acute angle to the main (cf. T branch, T 3 b); Y cross, (a) a cross in the form of the letter Y, often used as an ornamental device on ecclesiastical vestments; (b) a piece of piping consisting of three branches diverging at acute angles; hence Y-crossed ppl. a.; Y-front, a proprietary term for men's underwear, used esp. to denote close-fitting briefs with Y-shaped seaming at the front; freq. as n. pl., briefs of this kind; Y gun U.S., an anti-submarine gun with two firing arms for discharging depth charges; Y junction, a junction at which a road forks into two branches, or one road joins another at an angle different from 90 degrees; Y level, the common spirit-level, used with a telescope or theodolite resting on Y's (also written wye-level, q.v.); Y track, a short track on a railway at right angles to the main track and connected with it by two switches in opposite directions, used for reversing an engine or car. Also in names of natural structures, as Y cartilage, Y ligament: see quot. 1890.
1793Wollaston in Phil. Trans. LXXXIII. 137 The four pillars..carry the Ys for the pivots of the transit. 1803Mudge ibid. XCIII. 407 The telescope was then quickly taken out of the Ys. 1864Webster, Y,..2. (Railways.) A portion of track consisting of two converging tracks connected by a cross-track. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Journal,..the bearing part of a shaft, upon which it rests on its Y's or bearings.
1875Encycl. Brit. III. 266/1 A wire, the axis of which coincides with the Y-axis.
1878Lockyer Star-gazing 314 The Y bearings of a theodolite.
1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., Y Branch, a branch with a divergent stem.
1890Billings Nat. Med. Dict., Y cartilage, the triradiate piece of true cartilage which, before puberty, unites the three portions of the hip-bone at the bottom of the acetabulum.
1881G. G. Scott Ess. Hist. Eng. Church Archit. 114 St. Regnobert's chasuble at Bayeux, and St. Thomas's at Sens, are examples of the use of the Y cross in France. 1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., Y Cross, a pipe with two divergent stems.
1881G. G. Scott Ess. Hist. Eng. Church Archit. 114 The Y-crossed vestment of Ruben's picture.
1953Trade Marks Jrnl. 17 June 526/1 Y-front... Pants and vests, all for men. Lyle and Scott Limited,..Hawick, Scotland; manufacturers. 1959H. Hobson Mission House Murder xxix. 188 Here I was, in my athlete's vest and Y-front briefs. 1961Harper's Bazaar May 103/1 The demand for a T-shirt and a Y-front in Act II. 1976T. Stoppard Dirty Linen 23 He produces..a large pair of Y-front pants. 1978M. Page Pilate Plot (1979) xii. 183 He stripped to his Y-fronts and plunged into the pool.
1918Ann. Rep. Secretary U.S. Navy Dept. 56 A new gun known as the ‘Y’ gun has been designed and built especially for firing depth charges. 1937Jane's Fighting Ships 471 Y-gun or Depth Charge Projector.
1961Guardian 18 Sept. 3/4 Local Y junctions where drivers..expect others prophetically to divine the route they are about to take. 1982M. Duke Flashpoint xxv. 182 When he came to a Y-junction he made a sharp turn right.
1838P. Barlow in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XXV. 304 There are two constructions [of levels] that are commonly adopted, viz. the Y level and Troughton's level.
1890Billings Nat. Med. Dict., Y ligament, ilio-femoral ligament.
1842Francis Dict. Arts s.v. Beighton's Hand Gear, The Y piece, as it is called, G, bearing the moveable weight F. 1886Cumming Electricity (1887) 40 A mounted telescope..swinging on two Y pieces.
b. Collectors' name for various moths of the genus Plusia, having markings more or less resembling the letter Y.
1775M. Harris Engl. Lepid. 59 Y moth..Brown, having a mark in the middle of the wing like the letter Y. 1832J. Rennie Butterfl. & Moths 93 The Golden Y (P. Iota)..frequents woody places. Ibid., The Yorkshire Y (P. interrogationis). Ibid. 94 The Essex Y (P. circumflexa). 1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 778 The Gamma or Y-moth, Plusia gamma. 1845Jas. Hamilton in W. Arnot Life vi. (1870) 289 The first capture was her favourite Golden Y-moth. 1903Blackw. Mag. Apr. 490/1 Young missel-thrushes..searching for the larvæ of the silver Y.
4. a. Math. Used to denote the second of a set of unknown or variable quantities (the first being denoted by x); spec. in Analytical Geometry, the symbol for an ordinate, or quantity measured in the direction of the second axis of co-ordinates (hence called † the axis of y, now always y-axis; also transf.); Y-cut adj. (Electronics), of, pertaining to, or designating a quartz crystal cut in a plane normal to its Y-axis; Y-plate (Electronics), each of a pair of electrodes in an oscilloscope that control the vertical movement of the spot on the screen.
1728Chambers Cycl. s.v. Conic Sections, If the Latus Rectum of any Diameter, as DK, be y; then, as the Diameter DK is to its conjugate βγ, or its equal ων; so that Conjugate βγ, or that Tangent ων is to y. 1885, etc. [see X 3 a]. 1903[see X 3]. 1930, etc. Y-cut [see X-cut adj. s.v. X 3 a]. 1934J. H. Reyner Television vii. 71 In the ordinary applications of the tube we apply the voltage to be examined across one pair of plates (usually termed the Y plates) which causes the spot to be elongated into a line. 1945Electronic Engin. XVII. 723 These two equations define the components of the velocity of the spot along the X and Y axes. 1946Ibid. XVIII. 23/2 The signal [may be] fed to one Y plate and a pulse derived from the anode of V4 fed to the other Y plate. 1965J. R. Frederick Ultrasonic Engin. iv. 65 If the second digit is 4, 5, or 6 this refers to a shear strain around the x, y, or z axes, respectively. 1969Maddox & Davies Elem. Functions i. 12 The graph is a straight line parallel to the y-axis and situated 2 units to the right of the y-axis. 1976Appl. Physics Lett. XXIX. 76/1 Our measurements were made on a polished Y-cut single-crystal quartz substrate with a pair of aluminum thin-film interdigital transducers..with orientation for wave propagation along the X axis. 1978D. T. Rees Cathode Ray Oscilloscope 9 A voltage applied to the Y-plates will move the beam and the spot in a vertical direction. 1979Faux & Pratt Computational Geom. i. 18 The most familiar equation of a straight line is y = mx + c, in which m is the slope, and c the intercept on the y-axis.
b. Genetics. (Now always as a capital.) [After X 3 e.] The symbol of the Y chromosome. So Y-linked (stress variable) a., being or determined by a gene that is carried on the Y chromosome.
1909E. B. Wilson in Science 8 Jan. 57/2 The X-element..appears as a ‘large idiochromosome’ which has a synaptic mate... The latter chromosome, or its homologue, I shall designate as the ‘Y-element’. 1910Amer. Naturalist XLIV. 491 We should..imagine that when a sperm bearing a Y enters an egg a male results. 1911, etc. [see X 3 e]. 1917Amer. Naturalist LI. 534 Y or W linked or plastid inheritance. 1949Darlington & Mather Elem. Genetics ii. 51 In Drosophila and in man, there are completely Y-linked genes without any allelomorph in the X. 1981Heredity XLVII. 238 A majority of male secondary sexual colour patterns are Y-linked [in the guppy]. 1983M. B. Zaleski et al. Immunogenetics ii. 36 For essentially all mammalian species discussed in this book, females are X/X and males are X/Y... Other types of sex determination are also known to exist in various species and are called Protenor (females are X/X and males are X/O), Abraxas (females are X/Y and males are X/X) and haploidy-diploidy (males are haploid and sterile, whereas females are diploid and fertile).
5. Used in abstract reasoning for the name of a person or thing (usually in connexion with X). Also Y.Z., used as the initials of a person remaining anonymous.
1765Museum Rust. IV. 23, I am, Gentlemen, Yours, &c. Y.Z. 1867Sir S. Northcote in A. Lang Life, Lett., etc. (1890) I. ix. 293 The success of A. and B. will tempt Y. and Q. to enter upon the same field. 1873[see X 3 c].
6. Used to denote position in a series, as of the batteries of the Royal Horse Artillery.
7. Abbreviations. (Abbreviations cited here with full stops are frequently used without them.) y. = year(s); Y = yttrium (Chem.); Y (colloq., chiefly U.S.), short for YMCA or YWCA; Y, yuan; YA (U.S.), young adult; YAG: see yag; Y.C. (see quot. 1883); Y.E., Your Excellency; Y.F.C., Young Farmers Club (formerly Clubs); YHA, Youth Hostels Association; YIG, yttrium iron garnet; Y.M. (colloq.), short for YMCA; also, a YMCA hostel; YMCA, Young Men's Christian Association; also, a hostel run by the YMCA; YOP, Youth Opportunities Programme; also, a young person taking part in this scheme; Y.P., young prisoner; yr, year; yr., yr, your; yrs, yours; YTS, Youth Training Scheme; Y.W. (colloq.), short for YWCA; also, a YWCA hostel; YWCA, Young Women's Christian Association; also, a hostel run by the YWCA.
1680P. Henry Diaries & Lett. (1882) 293 Hee is now 23. *y. old.
1915Dialect Notes IV. 236 [College slang.] *Y, abbreviation for the college Y.M.C.A. 1945N. L. McClung Stream runs Fast xxvii. 259 Mary would have to have her bath at the ‘Y’. 1956H. Kurnitz Invasion of Privacy ii. 22 She's married to this English G.I. she met at the Y, where they have the service dances. 1977New Yorker 27 June 35/3 Rose..did not yet have a place to live; she was staying at the Y.
1962in E. Snow Other Side of River (1963) lxv. 495 The State invested *Y. 37,000,000 in the livelihood needs and productive capital construction. 1973Times 21 Mar. (China Trade Suppl.) p. iii/6 The basic unit of renminbi..is the yuan, represented by the symbol Y.
1974Publishers Weekly 7 Oct. 63/1 A powerful and tragic book, ‘Betrayed’ is as much for adults as *YAs.
1883Simmonds Dict. Trade Suppl., *Y.C., an abbreviation for yellow candle tallow.
1870Weekly Standard (Buenos Aires) 9 Mar. 14/2, I beg to communicate to *Y.E. the following despatch of Gen. Camara. 1945G. Cunningham Let. 27 Nov. in N. Mitchell Sir George Cunningham (1968) v. 117, I feel terribly for Y.E. and for Claude A. in this.
1931Young Farmer Mar. 77/1 The speakers..had motored many miles to come to this..third *Y.F.C. meeting. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 8 Mar. 65/1 This competition..is also of special interest to Y.F.C.s. 1982Financial Times 30 Apr. 25/6 The YFC movement.
1931Ruc-Sac July 18/1 The *Y.H.A. (the Youth Hostels Association of Great Britain) have sent us an advance copy of their handbook. 1982R. Hill Who guards Prince iv. vi. 228 The best British equivalent [hotel] in terms of remoteness and height would be a YHA hut.
1959Physical Rev. Lett. II. 499/1 (caption) The specific heat per unit volume of polycrystalline *YIG analyzed into its two components. 1975D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xiii. 113 In addition to mechanical tuning, both YIG and varactor tuning techniques are applicable.
1913*Y.M. [see lowbrow, low-brow a.]. 1916W. Owen Let. 1 Feb. (1967) 377 We are refused admission to the Y.M. or Canteen. 1931R. Campbell Georgiad i. 25 Androgyno..Well on the road... Half way to Georgiana's Y.M. hostel.
1881Y.M.C.A. Monthly Notes Sept. 138/1 Pasteur Cook (Paris) said the *Y.M.C.As. were differently conducted in England to what they were in France. 1901Oxf. Times 16 Mar. 12/1 A squad of eight Y.M.C.A. men..gave a gymnastic display. 1920S. Lewis Main St. xxi. 257, I wish there were a Y.M.C.A. here, so I could take up regular exercise. 1931R. Campbell Georgiad i. 17 Like some Y.M. or W.C.A. It welcomes waifs whom love has cast away. 1956R. Macaulay Towers of Trebizond xiv. 157 There would be a Y.M.C.A. and a Y.W.C.A., where billiards and boxing would be played.
1978Times Higher Educ. Suppl. 5 May 28/5 Young people..eligible for the *YOP in Cardiff..will be asked for their views. 1983Financial Times 12 Apr. 19/3 One can employ a school leaver on the Youth Opportunities Scheme (YOP), the cost of whom is reimbursed by the MSC. All I had to do was take on a YOP as a personal assistant.
1952Chambers's Jrnl. 1 June 356 They go all sentimental over the *Y.P.s. 1976H. Ferguson Confessions of Long Distance Acid Head 56 Ashford..is also used as a place where young offenders who have done Borstal, and a Borstall [sic] re-call, serve their sentence. These are known as Y.P.'s (young prisoners).
1880W. Whitman Daybks. & Notebks. (1978) I. 172 Robert Norris..28 *yrs old. 1942W. Faulkner Go down, Moses 264 Percavil Brownly 26 yr Old. cleark. 1968E. Knight in S. Henderson Understanding New Black Poetry (1973) iii. 326 Last yr Like a salmon quitting The cold ocean..I hitchhiked.
1772J. Knyveton Jrnl. 12 June in E. Gray Man Midwife (1946) i. 59 The two rooms and the closet will furnish *yr. obdt. with lecture rooms and office. 1811Shelley Let. 3 Jan. (1964) I. 35 Not that I like yr. heroine. 1876Disraeli Let. 13 Sept. in R. S. Churchill Winston S. Churchill (1967) I. Compan. i. 54, I earnestly hope that these arrangements may be consistent with Yr Grace's decision to accept the high office of the Queen's Representative in Ireland. 1973Black World Sept. 84 Ever get tired of people playing with yr life?
1811Shelley Let. 11 Jan. (1964) I. 38 *Yr's with affection. PBS. 1922Joyce Ulysses 740 Yrs affly xxxxx. 1932W. Faulkner Light in August xviii. 412 Given it toe barer yrs truly.
1984Times 17 Nov. 2/7 The *YTS is not available for many 17-year-olds. 1985Times Educ. Suppl. 9 Aug. 4/1 Thus, all one's instincts and reflexes impel one to support YTS.
1937Partridge Dict. Slang 968/1 *Y.W... The Young Women's Christian Association. 1979M. Soames Clementine Churchill xxvi. 424 Clementine never severed her links with the ‘Y.W.’.
1887(title) *Y.W.C.A. Monthly Journal. 1931,1956Y.W.C.A. [see Y.M.C.A. above]. 1961Times 10 Oct. 16/1 A jolie-laide innocent looking for the Y.W.C.A.
8. In Particle Physics, Y denotes the hypercharge quantum number of sub-atomic particles.
1956[see hypercharge]. 1974S. Gasiorowicz Quantum Physics xxvi. 443 The missing I = 0, Y = 0 pseudoscalar meson was found in the examination of π + π - π0 masses in bubble-chamber pictures. |