Definition of: q, Q

(ky) noun plural q's Q's or qs, Qs, ques (kyz)
1. The 17th letter of the English alphabet, from Phoenician Q'oph and Greek koppa, which was present in five eastern Greek alphabets, obsolete in the late alphabets of Elis and Athens, but survived in the Chalcidian and Boeotian, whence it passed into the Italian, to Roman Q.
2. The sound of the letter q. In English q is always followed by u and is pronounced kw, as in quack, queen, quest, quote, conquest, equal, etc. In some words borrowed from French, however, it retains its French pronunciation of k, as in appliqué, conquer, coquette, pique, piquant, toque. Final - que is always pronounced as k, as in antique, oblique, physique, unique, etc. See ALPHABET.