List of English words containing Q not followed by U


In English, the letter Q is usually followed by the letter U, but there are some exceptions. The majority of these are anglicised from Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Inuktitut, or other languages that do not use the English alphabet, with Q representing a sound not found in English. For example, in the Chinese pinyin alphabet, qi is pronounced by an English speaker, as pinyin uses "q" to represent the sound, which is approximated as in English. In other examples, Q represents in standard Arabic, such as in qat, faqir and Qur'ān. In Arabic, the letter ق, traditionally romanised as Q, is quite distinct from ك, traditionally romanised as K; for example, قلب means "heart" but كلب means "dog". However, alternative spellings are sometimes accepted, which use K in place of Q; for example, Koran and Cairo.
Of the 72 words in this list, 68 are nouns, and most would generally be considered loanwords; the only modern-English words that contain Q not followed by U and are not borrowed from another language are freq, qiana, QWERTY, and tranq. However, all of the loanwords on this list are considered to be naturalised in English according to at least one major dictionary, often because they refer to concepts or societal roles that do not have an accurate equivalent in English. For words to appear here, they must appear in their own entry in a dictionary; words that occur only as part of a longer phrase are not included.
Proper nouns are not included in the list. There are, in addition, many place names and personal names, mostly originating from Arabic-speaking countries, Albania, or China, that have a Q without a U. The most familiar of these are the countries of Iraq and Qatar, along with the derived words Iraqi and Qatari. Iqaluit, the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, also has a Q that is not directly followed by a U. Qaqortoq, in Greenland, is notable for having three such Qs. Other proper names and acronyms that have attained the status of English words include: Compaq, Nasdaq, Qantas, and QinetiQ. Saqqara is a proper noun notable for its use of a double Q.

Words


Unless noted otherwise, all words listed here are assumed to be pluralized by adding -s or -es. [|References] in the "Sources" column relate to the headword in column one; variant spellings are then separately referenced. The sources given are selective, and the absence of a reference to a particular dictionary does not necessarily mean that the word does not appear in that dictionary.
In American and Canadian English, there are currently 4,422 words with Q and no U including the following words in the table below.
WordMeaningSourcesOther formsEtymology
bianqingAn ancient Chinese percussion instrument
buqshaA former Yemeni monetary unitAlso written bogacheArabic
burqaA veiled garment worn by some Muslim womenAlso written burka, burkha, or burquaUrdu and Persian burqa, from Arabic burqu`
The number five, as signified in dice or cardsFrench cinq, "five"
A plant of the genus Potentilla, or an ornamental design thereofMuch more commonly written cinquefoilMiddle English, from Latin quinquefolium, from quinque "five" + folium "leaf"
A trimming of cock feathers on a woman's hatFrench coq, "cockerel"

Uses in ''Scrabble''

In many word games, notably in Scrabble, a player must build a word using a certain set of letters. If a player is obliged to use a q but does not have a u, it may be possible to play words from this list. Not all words in this list are acceptable in Scrabble tournament games. Scrabble tournaments around the world use their own sets of words from selected dictionaries that may not contain all the words listed here.
Qi is the most commonly played word in Scrabble tournaments, and was added to the official North American word list in 2006.
Other words listed in this article, such as suq, umiaq or qiviut, are also acceptable, but since these contain a u, they are less likely to be useful in the situation described.

List of dictionaries cited