Y

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Y mean? 

• Y (noun)
  The noun Y has 2 senses:

1. a silvery metallic element that is common in rare-earth minerals; used in magnesium and aluminum alloys

2. the 25th letter of the Roman alphabet

  Familiarity information: Y used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• Y (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A silvery metallic element that is common in rare-earth minerals; used in magnesium and aluminum alloys

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

atomic number 39; Y; yttrium

Hypernyms ("Y" is a kind of...):

metal; metallic element (any of several chemical elements that are usually shiny solids that conduct heat or electricity and can be formed into sheets etc.)

Holonyms ("Y" is a substance of...):

fergusonite (a dark mineral consisting of oxides of yttrium and erbium and tantalum and other minerals)

gadolinite; ytterbite (a mineral that is a source of rare earths; consists of silicates of iron and beryllium and cerium and yttrium and erbium)

xenotime (a brown-to-yellow mineral that is a phosphate of yttrium in crystalline form)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The 25th letter of the Roman alphabet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

wye; Y

Hypernyms ("Y" is a kind of...):

alphabetic character; letter; letter of the alphabet (the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech)

Holonyms ("Y" is a member of...):

Latin alphabet; Roman alphabet (the alphabet evolved by the ancient Romans which serves for writing most of the languages of western Europe)

 Context examples 

The determination of the amount of neuropeptide Y present in a sample.

(Neuropeptide Y Measurement, NCI Thesaurus)

Encoded by single copy human NPY Gene (NPY Family), 97-aa 11-kDa (precursor) secreted Neuropeptide Y is a 36-aa peptide neuromodulator with sequence homology to peptide YY and PNP.

(Neuropeptide Y, NCI Thesaurus)

A measurement of the neuropeptide Y in a biological specimen.

(Neuropeptide Y Measurement, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Neuropeptide Y receptor type 1 (384 aa, ~44 kDa) is encoded by the human NPY1R gene.

(Neuropeptide Y Receptor Type 1, NCI Thesaurus)

Neuropeptide Y receptor type 2 (381 aa, ~43 kDa) is encoded by the human NPY2R gene.

(Neuropeptide Y Receptor Type 2, NCI Thesaurus)

The 50 kD version of dbpB also binds DNA to regulate genes containing Y box elements in their promoters.

(DBPB Transcriptional Activation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

It is characterized by loss of chromosomes 1 and Y.

(Chromophobe Renal Cell Carcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)

A substance that binds to a molecule called Lewis Y antigen that is found on many types of tumor cells and some normal cells.

(B3 monoclonal antibody, NCI Dictionary)

The antibody moiety of BMS-182248-1 binds to Lewis Y, a cell surface antigen expressed on many solid tumor types.

(BR96-Doxorubicin Immunoconjugate, NCI Thesaurus)

It contains a histone-fold/TFIID-TAF/NF-Y domain.

(CHRAC, NCI Thesaurus)