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In English, the letter ''q'' is usually followed by the letter ''u''. While this is true in the vast majority of cases, there are some exceptions, the majority of which are naturalised from Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Inuktitut, or other languages which do not use the English alphabet, with ''q'' representing a sound not found in English. For example, ''qi'' is pronounced , as pinyin uses ‹q› to represent the sound , which is approximated as in English. In other examples, ''q'' represents , such as in ''qat'' and ''faqir'', and alternative spellings are accepted which use ''k'' in place of ''q''.
Almost all of these words are nouns, and most would generally be considered loanwords. However, they are all considered to be naturalised in English according to at least one major dictionary (see References), 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 which occur only as part of a longer phrase are not included. Also, some dictionaries note that many words which are now spelt with a ''qu'' (such as ''square'') could once have been spelt with a ''qw'', and some of these obsolete variants are included here.

In addition, there are many place names and personal names, mostly originating from North Africa, the Middle East 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 territory Nunavut, Canada also has a ''q'' with the absence of a ''u''. ''Qaqortoq'', in Greenland, is notable for having three naked ''q''s. Other proper names and acronyms that have attained the status of English words include: ''Compaq'' (a computer company), ''Qantas'' (an Australian airline), ''Nasdaq'' (the US electronic stock market) and ''QinetiQ'' (a British technology company). ''Zaqqum'' (a tree mentioned in the Qur'an) and ''Saqqara'' are proper nouns notable for their use of a double ''q''. However the nouns in this list are common nouns.

Contents

Words

Uses

See also

References

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.

Word	Meaning	Sources	Other forms	Etymology
'buqsha'	A former Yemeni monetary unit.	[L]	Also written ''bogache''.	Arabic.
'burqa'	A veiled garment worn by Muslim women.	[ODE][LC][C][AHC][OED]	Also written ''burka'' or ''burqua''.	Urdu and Persian ''burqa'', from Arabic ''burqu''.
'cinq'	The number five, as signified in dice or cards.	[ODE][COD][OED]		French ''cinq'', "five".
'cinqfoil'	A plant of the genus ''Potentilla'', or an ornamental design thereof.	[SOED][OED]	Much more commonly written ''cinquefoil''.	Middle English, from Latin ''quinquefolium'', from ''quinque'' "five" + ''folium'' "leaf".
'coq'	A trimming of cock feathers on a woman's hat.	[WI]		French ''coq'', "cockerel".

|-valign="top"
|'faqih'
|An Islamic lawyer.
|[RHW]
|Plural ''faqihs'' or '''fuqaha''' [RHU].
|Arabic فقيه.
|-valign="top"
|'faqir'
|A Muslim ascetic.
|[L]
|More commonly written ''fakir''.
|Arabic فقير
|-valign="top"
|'fiqh'
|Muslim jurisprudence.
|[ODE]
|
|Arabic فقه, "understanding".
|-valign="top"
|'inqilab'
|A revolution in India or Pakistan.
|[C]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'mbaqanga'
|A style of South African music.
|[ODE][C][W]
|
|Zulu ''umbaqanga'', "steamed maize bread".
|-valign="top"
|'miqra'
|The Tanakh, or Hebrew text of the Bible.
|[WI]
|
|Hebrew מקרא.
|-valign="top"
|'muqaddam'
|A Bangladeshi headman.
|[C]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'nastaliq'
|An Arabic script used in Persian writings.
|[OED]
|Also written '''nasta'liq''' [C], '''nestaliq''' [OED], or shortened to just '''taliq''' [OED].
|Arabic نستعليق.
|-valign="top"
|'pontacq'
|A sweet wine from Pontac.
|[OED]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'qabab'
|A dish consisting of pieces of seasoned meat.
|[OED]
|Much more commonly written ''kebab'', ''kebob'' or ''kabob''.
|Arabic.
|-valign="top"
|'qabalah'
|A form of Jewish mysticism.
|[C][AHC][WI]
|More commonly written ''Kabbalah'', and also written '''Qabala''' [AHC], '''Qabbala''' [WI], ''Cabalah'' etc.
|Hebrew קַבָּלָה.
|-valign="top"
|'qadarite'
|A member of the Qadariyah.
|[RHU]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'qadariyah'
|In Islam, adherents of the doctrine of free will.
|[RHU]
|Also written '''Qadariya''' [RHU].
|
|-valign="top"
|'qaddish'
|In Judaism, a prayer of mourning.
|[C]
|More commonly written ''Kaddish''.
|
|-valign="top"
|'qadi'
|A Muslim judge.
|[L][C][W][OED]
|Also written '''qadhi''' [OED] or '''qazi''' [OED].
|Arabic قاضى.
|-valign="top"
|'qadiriyah'
|In Islam, a Sufi order.
|[RHU]
|Also written '''Qadiriya''' [RHU].
|
|-valign="top"
|'qaf'
|Twenty-first letter of the Arabic alphabet.
|[RHW]
|
|Arabic ق.
|-valign="top"
|'qaid'
|A Muslim tribal chief.
|[RHW]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'qaimaqam'
|A minor official of the Ottoman Empire.
|[C][OED]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'qalamdan'
|A Persian writing-case.
|[C]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'qalandar'
|A member of an order of mendicant dervishes.
|[RHU]
|Also written ''calender'', or capitalised.
|
|-valign="top"
|'qanat'
|A type of water supply tunnel found in north Africa and the Middle East.
|[ODE][C][OED]
|
|Persian, from Arabic ''qanāt'', "channel".
|-valign="top"
|'qanun'
|A type of harp.
|[OED]
|Also written '''qanon''' [OED].
|
|-valign="top"
|'qasida'
|An Arabian poem of praise or satire.
|[C][OED]
|
|Arabic قصيدة.
|-valign="top"
|'qat
|A kind of Arabian shrub used as a narcotic.
|[L][C][OED]
|More commonly written ''khat''.
|Arabic ''qāt''.
|-valign="top"
|'qawwal'
|A person who practises qawwali music.
|[ODE][C]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'qawwali'
|Devotional music of the Sufis.
|[ODE][C]
|
|Arabic قوٌالی (''qawwāli''), "loquacious" or "singer".
|-valign="top"
|'qazi'
|Variant of ''qadi''.
|
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'qepiq'
|An Azerbaijani unit of currency.
|[AH]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'qere'
|A marginal reading in the Hebrew Bible.
|[OED][WI]
|Also written '''qeri''' [WI] or '''qre''' [WI].
|
|-valign="top"
|'qhat'
|An obsolete spelling of ''what''.
|[OED]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'qheche'
|An obsolete spelling of ''which''.
|[OED]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'qhom'
|An obsolete spelling of ''whom''.
|[OED]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'qhythsontyd'
|An obsolete spelling of ''Whitsuntide'' (the day of Pentecost).
|[OED]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'qi'
|In Chinese culture, a physical life force.
|[ODE][C][AHC][OED]
|Commonly written ''chi'' or ''ki''.
|Chinese 氣, 'air'.
|-valign="top"
|'qiana'
|A type of nylon.
|[OED]
|
|Originally a trademark of DuPont, now generic.
|-valign="top"
|'qibla'
|The point to which Muslims turn in prayer.
|[ODE][COD][C][OED]
|Also written '''qiblah''' [OED], or '''qib'lah''' [RHU]. Sometimes capitalised.
|17th Century Arabic, "the opposite".
|-valign="top"
|'qibli'
|A local Libyan name for the sirocco, a southeasterly Mediterranean wind.
|[OED]
|Also written ''ghibli''.
|
|-valign="top"
|'qigong'
|A Chinese system of medical exercises.
|[ODE][C]
|Also written ''qi gong', 'ki gong', or 'chi kung''.
|Chinese 气功 (simp.).
|-valign="top"
|'qin'
|A Chinese musical instrument.
|[AOX]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'qinah'
|A Hebrew elegy.
|[WI]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'qindar'
|An Albanian unit of currency, equal to one one-hundredth of a lek.
|[ODE][L][C]
|Plural '''qindarka''' [L] or ''qindars'' [C]. Also written '''qintar''' [L][C][AOX] or ''quintal''.
|Albanian.
|-valign="top"
|'qinghaosu'
|A drug, artemisinin, used to treat malaria.
|[C]
|
|Chinese 青蒿素.
|-valign="top"
|'qirsh'
|A monetary unit of Saudi Arabia and, formerly, various other countries.
|[RHU]
|Also written ''qurush'', ''qursh'', ''gursh'', ''girsh'' or ''ghirsh''.
|
|-valign="top"
|'qiviut'
|The wool of the musk-ox.
|[OED]
|
|Inuktitut
|-valign="top"
|'qiyas'
|An analogy in Sharia, Islamic law.
|[RHW]
|
|Arabic قياس.
|-valign="top"
|'qoph'
|The nineteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
|[L][C]
|Also written ''koph''.
|Hebrew ק.
|-valign="top"
|'qoppa'
|The nineteenth letter of the ancient Greek alphabet.
|
|Generally written ''koppa''.
|Greek Ϟ.
|-valign="top"
|'qorma'
|A type of curry.
|[Co]
|Much more commonly written ''korma''.
|Urdu.
|-valign="top"
|'qre'
|(Variant of ''qere'')
|
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'qwerty'
|A standard English keyboard layout.
|[ODE][COD][LC][C][OED]
|Plural ''qwertys'' or ''qwerties''. Also rendered ''QWERTY''.
|Named after the letters on the top row of keys.
|-valign="top"
|'rencq'
|An obsolete spelling of ''.
|[OED]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'sambuq'
|A small Arabian boat.
|[OED]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'sheqel'
|A unit of weight originally used in Mesopotamia. The currency of Israel, divided into 100 agorot.
|[MW]
|Plural ''sheqels'' or '''sheqalim'''. More commonly written ''shekel''.
|Hebrew שקל, Yiddish ניי-שקל.
|-valign="top"
|'suq'
|A Muslim marketplace.
|[ODE][C][OED]
|Most commonly written ''souk'' (French spelling).
|Arabic سوق (''sūq'').
|-valign="top"
|'talaq'
|A form of Islamic divorce.
|[ODE][C][OED]
|
|Arabic ''talaq'' from ''talaqa'', "repudiate".
|-valign="top"
|'taliq'
|(Variant of ''nastaliq'')
|
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'taluq'
|An Indian estate.
|[OED]
|Also written ''taluk'' or ''talook''.
|
|-valign="top"
|'taluqdar'
|A person who collects the revenues of a ''taluq''.
|[OED]
|Also written ''talukdar'' or ''talookdar''.
|
|-valign="top"
|'taluqdari'
|An Indian landholding tenure.
|[OED]
|
|
|-valign="top"
|'taqiya'
|In Islam, the dissimulation of faith displayed for fear of one's life.
|[RHW]
|Also written '''taqiyah''' [RHU], or capitalised.
|Arabic التقية.
|-valign="top"
|'taqlid'
|Acceptance of Muslim orthodoxy.
|[RHW]
|
|Arabic قْلي.
|-valign="top"
|'tariqa'
|A Sufi method of spiritual development, or a Sufi missionary.
|[E]
|Also written '''tariqat''' [E] or ''tarika''.
|Arabic طريق.
|-valign="top"
|'tranq'
|A form of sedative.
|[OED]
|
|Apocopation from ''tranquilizer''.
|-valign="top"
|'tsaddiq'
|In Judaism, a term bestowed upon the righteous.
|[C][OED]
|Plural ''tsaddiqs'' or '''tsaddiqim'''. Also written '''tzaddiq''' [C], ''tzadik'' or ''tzaddik''.
|Hebrew צדיק.
|-valign="top"
|'umiaq'
|An open eskimo boat.
|[OSPD4]
|Also spelled ''umiak''
|
|-valign="top"
|'waqf'
|A charitable trust in Islamic law.
|[ODE][C][OED]
|Plural ''waqf'' [ODE][C][OED] or ''waqfs'' [C][OED].
|Arabic, literally "stoppage" from ''waqafa'', "come to a standstill".
|-valign="top"
|'yaqona'
|A Fijian intoxicating beverage, kava.
|[C][OED]
|
|Fijian ''yaqona'', in which ''q'' represents [ŋg]
|}

Uses

In many word games, most famously in Scrabble, a player must build a word using a certain set of letters. Therefore, if a player is obliged to use a Q but does not have a U, it may be useful to construct words from this list. In Scrabble in North America, the only acceptable words with a Q and not a U are ''qi'', ''qat'', ''qaid'', ''qadi'', ''qoph'', ''qanat'', ''tranq'', ''faqir'', ''sheqel'', ''qabala'', ''qabalah'', ''qindar'', ''qintar'', ''qindarka'', ''mbaqanga'', and ''qwerty'', along with their plurals (such as ''qats'' and ''sheqelim'').[ TWL ] Other words in this list, such as ''suq'' and ''qiviut'', are also acceptable, but since these contain a U, they are less likely to be useful.

See also

★ List of words without vowel letters

References

★ [AH]: The American Heritage Dictionary, Fourth Edition (ISBN 0-440-23701-7)

★ [AHC]: American Heritage College Dictionary, Fourth Edition, 2000

★ [AOX]: Ask Oxford Last accessed May 29, 2006.

★ [C]: The Chambers Dictionary, 2003

★ [Co]: Collins English Dictionary, Third Edition (updated 1994)

★ [COD]: The Concise Oxford Dictionary, Eighth Edition, 1990

★ [E]: Microsoft Encarta online dictionary Last accessed May 29, 2006.

★ [L]: The Longman Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, 1988 (ISBN 0-582-55511-6)

★ [LC]: The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Fourth Edition, 2003

★ [MW]: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition

★ [MWO]: Merriam-Webster online dictionary Last accessed May 29, 2006.

★ [ODE]: Oxford Dictionary of English, Second Edition, 2003 (ISBN 0-19-861347-4)

★ [OED]: Oxford English Dictionary, 2003

★ [OSPD4]: The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, 2005 (ISBN 0-87779-929-6)

★ [RHU]: Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 1997

★ [RHW]: Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 2005 (ISBN 0-375-42599-3)

★ [SOED]: The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Third Edition, 1992

★ [W]: Random House Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 2000

★ [WI]: Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged (ISBN 0-87779-201-1)