the fifth letter and third short vowel of the alphabet, pronounced as the u in full.
ind. an interjection of compassion, anger, [L.]
a particle implying assent, calling, command, [L.]
ind. an enclitic copula used frequently in the Vedas;
(as a particle implying restriction and antithesis, generally after pronominals, prepositions, particles, and before nu and su, equivalent to) and, also, further; on the other hand (especially in connexion with a relative, e.g. ya u, he on the contrary who &c.)
This particle may serve to give emphasis, like id and eva, especially after prepositions or demonstrative pronouns, in conjunction with nu, vai, hi, cid, &c. (e.g. ayám u vām purutámo … johavīti [[RV. iii, 62, 2]], this very person [your worshipper] invokes you &c.) It is especially used in the figure of speech called Anaphora, and particularly when the pronouns are repeated (e.g. tám u stuṣa índram tám gṛṇīṣe [[RV. ii, 20, 4]], him I praise, Indra, him I sing). It may be used in drawing a conclusion, like the English ‘now’ (e.g. tád u táthā ná kuryāt [[ŚBr. v, 2, 2, 3]], that now he should not do in such a manner), and is frequently found in interrogative sentences (e.g. ká u tác ciketa [[RV. i, 164, 48]], who, I ask, should know that?)
Pāṇini calls this particle uñ to distinguish it from the interrogative . In the Pada-pāṭha it is written ūm.
In the classical language occurs only after atha, na, and kim, with a slight modification of the sense, and often only as an expletive (see kim);
— or — uta, on the one hand — on the other hand; partly — partly; as well — as.
cl. 5. P. unoti (see vy-u, [RV. v, 31, 1]) : cl. 2. Ā. (1. sg. uvé, [RV. x, 86, 7]) : cl. 1. Ā. avate, [Dhātup.]; to call to, hail; to roar, bellow (see also ota = ā-uta).
m. N. of Śiva
also of Brahman, [L.]