Q

1. 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 (kū) 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.

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