[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/mu.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / mu

[← M](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/M/)

# mu

«mu» in Mova's school dictionary: **the twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet, the Greek m** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (mu — the Greek letter μ); fragment

### meaning for a pupil

1) Mu (μ, M) is the twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet, the Greek m. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mu/#m1)

2) (science, maths) The symbol μ means micro-, one millionth: a μm (micrometre) is a millionth of a metre. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mu/#m2)

3) (Mandarin, pinyin) Mù is a Mandarin syllable; with a falling tone it means tree or wood (木), and also eye (目); it sounds like moo to an English ear. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mu/#m3)

4) (Japanese, Zen) Mu can mean nothing or not having. It is not an ordinary English word. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mu/#m4)

5) In some stories, people chant mu as a sound with no meaning, like a magic word. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mu/#m5)

### sense in the lessons

In maths and science, μ is used for micro- and, for older pupils, for the average (the mean) and friction. In Mandarin lessons, mù (木) is one of the first characters children see: it looks like a tree. In cartoons, a cow says moo, not mu. Phrases: μm, mu-sign.

### examples

- Mu is a letter in the Greek alphabet. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mu/#x1)
- The symbol μm means micrometre. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mu/#x2)
- In Mandarin, mù means tree. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mu/#x3)
- The Chinese character for tree, 木, is said mù. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mu/#x4)
- Alpha, beta and mu are all Greek letters. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mu/#x5)
- Bacteria are measured in μm. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mu/#x6)
- ‘We must bow three times eastwards and say “Mu...mu...mu...”’ [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mu/#x7)

### note

Pronounced mew in English (for the Greek letter) and moo in Mandarin. A cow's sound is spelled moo, not mu.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «mu» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mu/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.