the seventeenth letter of the English
alphabet, has but one sound (that of
k), and is always followed
by
u, the two letters together being sounded like
kw,
except in some words in which the
u is silent. See
Guide to
Pronunciation, § 249. Q is not found in Anglo-Saxon,
cw being used instead of
qu; as in
cwic, quick;
cwen, queen. The name (k
) is from the French
ku,
which is from the Latin name of the same letter; its form is from the
Latin, which derived it, through a Greek alphabet, from the
Phœnician, the ultimate origin being Egyptian.
