People who participate in the popular daily word search game Wordle have six chances to correctly guess the 5-letter word of the day. It may be challenging to solve because there are so many options, but it’s perfectly normal for us to get stuck occasionally. We step in to help with that.

We challenge you to name one common English word that begins with “q” but does not have the letter “u” immediately following it. Could you discover it? Oh, and Hindi or any other foreign language is not taken into account!

You might be surprised to learn that the letters “Q” and “U” almost always go together, whether the words are quick, quiet, queen, quack, or even Harry Potter’s favorite game, Quidditch. Words that don’t start with “qu” are few and far between. You may not even be aware that the letter “q” exists in the English language. You did indeed hear correctly.

List of 5-letter words with Q and U

Here is the entire list of five-letter words that contain the letters Q and U. Wordle provides you with information on which letters won’t be used in your solution, enabling you to eliminate words from the list below and solve today’s daily puzzle. Keep in mind that these are words in which the letters may appear in any order or combination.

  • aquas
  • burqa
  • coqui
  • equal
  • eques
  • equid
  • equip
  • fique
  • guqin
  • maqui
  • pique
  • quack
  • quads
  • quaff
  • quags
  • quail
  • quair
  • quais
  • quake
  • quaky
  • quale
  • qualm
  • quant
  • quare
  • quark
  • quart
  • quash
  • quasi
  • quass
  • quate
  • quats
  • quayd
  • quays
  • qubit
  • quean
  • queen
  • queer
  • quell
  • queme
  • quena
  • quern
  • query
  • quest
  • queue
  • queyn
  • queys
  • quich
  • quick
  • quids
  • quiet
  • quiff
  • quill
  • quilt
  • quims
  • quina
  • quine
  • quino
  • quins
  • quint
  • quipo
  • quips
  • quipu
  • quire
  • quirk
  • quirt
  • quist
  • quite
  • quits
  • quoad
  • quods
  • quoif
  • quoin
  • quoit
  • quoll
  • quonk
  • quops
  • quota
  • quote
  • quoth
  • qursh
  • quyte
  • roque
  • squab
  • squad
  • squat
  • squaw
  • squeg
  • squib
  • squid
  • squit
  • squiz
  • toque
  • tuque
  • umiaq
  • usque

The letter “q” is thanks to the French language! The Normans were the ones who actually brought many French words into the English language. Therefore, the letter “q” did not exist in the English language prior to the Norman invasion of 1066. Queen and quick were actually spelled “clen” and “clic,” respectively, because the English language used “cw” instead of the letter “qu.”.

Unexpectedly, the Normans modified the spelling of English words to reflect their French ways. We tried to understand why the French used the ‘q’ sound for the ‘k’ sound, as if this wasn’t confusing enough. They used the letter “q” because Latin made the sound of “kw” with the letter “qu.” In addition, it seems to be an endless cycle because the Etruscans, who had three different symbols for the sound “k,” Gamma, Kappa, and Koppa, were the ones who gave the Romans their writing system. Woah! Gamma is therefore allegedly the ancestor of the letters C and G, Kappa is the ancestor of K, and Koppa is the ancestor of Q, according to some sources. Who would have thought that the alphabet had ancestors!

There’s a good chance that this led you to the solution you needed.

Why does the letter “u” follow the majority of English words beginning with a “q”?

Due to the absence of the letter “q,” the sound “qu” in Old English was represented by the letter “cw,” which stands for “queen.” Following the Norman Conquest, when French gradually grew to be a significant and even dominant aspect of the language we now refer to as Middle English, “cw” was replaced by “qu.”

Traditional English words do not include a q on its own. To the great relief of serious Scrabble players, a few words from Chinese and Arabic that do use q without u are gradually making their way into use in English, but it’s a very slow process of linguistic assimilation.

QU is never used as a trigraph in English, where a digraph is a group of two letters that represent one speech sound.

Latin invented the pairing of Q and U, which has Greek roots. To express any sound at all, Q started to rely heavily on U.

When representing sounds that are common in Semitic languages but uncommon in English, Q without a U is used. Examples of the sound “k” in words with the letter Q include Quran and Iraq.

Now, a vowel coming after the letter “U” is just an English language convention.

caiquejee.

equijacent.

jacquard

jacquards

jacqueline

jacquemart

jacquerie

jacqueries

jaquette

jaquima

jargonesque.

jenequen

jequerity

jequirities

jequirity

jerque

jerqued

jerquer

jerquers

jerques

jerquing

jerquings.

jiqui.

joaquinite

jocoque

jocoqui

jonque

jonquil

jonquille

jonquils.

jumboesque

junoesque

jusquaboutisme

jusquaboutist.

quadratojugal

quadrijugal

quadrijugate

quadrijugous

quasijudicial

quillaja

quillajas

quillajic

quinquejugous

In what ways do Q and U collaborate?

When representing the speech sound /kw/ (a voiceless labiovelar stop), QU is always used as a digraph in the English language. The pairing of Q and U is a Latin invention with Greek roots. When a rounded vowel would typically be preceded by a sound like /k/ or /g/, the letter Koppa, on which Q is based, would appear instead. However, some other letters, such as C, also stood for the same sound but in various letter combinations.

Q began to rely heavily on U to express any sound as C came to represent more and more of these circumstances over time. This is a significant quibble for an official member of the Latin (now English) alphabet.

Q and U can be found in 93 different five-letter words

AQUAE AQUAS BURQA

EQUAL EQUID EQUIP

FIQUE MAQUI PIQUE

QUACK QUADS QUAFF

QUAGS QUAIL QUAIR

QUAIS QUAKE QUAKY

QUALE QUALM QUANT

QUARE QUARK QUART

QUASH QUASI QUASS

QUATE QUATS QUAYD

QUAYS QUBIT QUEAN

QUEEN QUEER QUELL

QUEME QUENA QUERN

QUERY QUEST QUEUE

QUEYN QUEYS QUICH

QUICK QUIDS QUIET

QUIFF QUILL QUILT

QUIMS QUINA QUINE

QUINO QUINS QUINT

QUIPO QUIPS QUIPU

QUIRE QUIRK QUIRT

QUIST QUITE QUITS

QUOAD QUODS QUOIF

QUOIN QUOIT QUOLL

QUONK QUOPS QUOTA

QUOTE QUOTH QURSH

QUYTE ROQUE SQUAB

SQUAD SQUAT SQUAW

SQUEG SQUIB SQUID

SQUIT SQUIZ TOQUE

TUQUE UMIAQ USQUE

It is impossible to pinpoint the origins of the letter combination “qu,” but even after so many years and numerous linguistic shifts, these two letters continue to stand strong together. It is difficult to think of a common word that does not contain both “qu” letters. For more information on the “qu” concept, view the video.

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