List of English words containing Q not followed by U

Qwerty, one of the few native English words with Q not followed by U (or another vowel), is derived from the first six letters of a standard keyboard layout.

A souq in Marrakech, Morocco. Like 32 of the 71 other English words that use a q not followed by a u, souq is of Arabic origin.

In English, the letter Q is usually followed by the letter U, but there are some exceptions. The majority of these are anglicised 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, in the Chinese pinyin alphabet, qi is pronounced /tʃi/ by an English speaker, as pinyin uses "q" to represent the sound [tɕʰ], which is approximated as [tʃ] in English. In other examples, Q represents [q] in standard Arabic, such as in qat, faqir and Qur'ān. In Arabic, the letter ق, traditionally romanised as Q, is quite distinct from ك, traditionally romanised as K; for example, قلب /qalb/ means "heart" but كلب /kalb/ means "dog". However, alternative spellings are sometimes accepted which use K (or sometimes C) in place of Q; for example, Koran (Qur'ān) and Cairo (al-Qāhira).

Of the 71 words in this list, 67 are nouns, and most would generally be considered loanwords; the only modern-English words that contain Q not followed by U and are not borrowed from another language are qiana, qwerty, and tranq. However, all of the loanwords on this list are 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.

Proper nouns are not included in the list. There are, in addition, many place names and personal names, mostly originating from Arabic-speaking countries, Albania, 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 Canadian territory of Nunavut, also has a Q which is not directly followed by a U. Qaqortoq, in Greenland, is notable for having three such Qs. Other proper names and acronyms that have attained the status of English words include: Compaq (a computer company), Nasdaq (a US electronic stock market), Qantas (an Australian airline), and QinetiQ (a British technology company). Zaqqum (a tree mentioned in the Qur'an) and Saqqara (an ancient burial ground in Egypt) are proper nouns notable for their use of a double Q.

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 some Muslim women	[ODE][LC][C][AHC][OED]	Also written burka, burkha, 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"
faqih	An Islamic jurisprudent	[RHW]	Plural faqihs or fuqaha [RHU]	Arabic فقيه‎
faqir	A Muslim ascetic	[L]	More commonly written fakir	Arabic فقير‎, "poverty-stricken"
fiqh	Muslim jurisprudence	[ODE]		Arabic فقه, "understanding"
inqilab	A revolution in India or Pakistan	[C]		Arabic إنقلاب‎
mbaqanga	A style of South African music	[ODE][C][W]		Zulu umbaqanga, "steamed maize bread"
miqra	The Tanakh, or Hebrew text of the Bible	[WI]		Hebrew מקרא‎
muqaddam	A Bangladeshi or Punjabi headman	[C]		Arabic مقدم‎
nastaliq	An Arabic script used in Persian writings	[OED]	Also written nasta'liq [C], nestaliq [OED], nastaleeq, or shortened to just taliq [OED]	Persian نستعليق, from naskh + ta`liq
niqab	A veil for the lower-face worn by some Muslim women	[ODE]	Also written niqaab	From Arabic نِقاب‎
pontacq	A sweet wine from Pontacq (France)	[OED]
qabab	A dish consisting of pieces of seasoned meat	[OED]	More commonly written kebab, kebap, kebob, kibob, kebhav, kephav, kebabie, or kabob	Persian کباب
qabalah	A form of Jewish mysticism	[C][AHC][WI]	More commonly written Kabbalah, and also written Qabala [AHC], Qabbala [WI], Cabalah etc. Derived words include qabalism, qabalist, and qabalistic.	Hebrew קַבָּלָה‎
qadarite	A member of the Qadariyah	[RHU]
qadariyah	In Islam, adherents of the doctrine of free will	[RHU]	Also written Qadariya [RHU]
qaddish	In Judaism, a prayer of mourning	[C]	More commonly written Kaddish	Hebrew קדיש‎
qadi	A Muslim judge	[L][C][W][OED][AOX]	Also written qadhi [OED], qaadi, kadi, kazi qaadee or qazi [OED]	Arabic قاضى‎
qadiriyah	In Islam, a Sufi order	[RHU]	Also written Qadiriya [RHU]	Arabic القادريه‎
qaf	Twenty-first letter of the Arabic alphabet	[RHW]	Also written qaph or qap	Arabic ق‎
qaid	A Muslim tribal chief	[RHW]	Also written caid or kaid	Arabic قائد‎, "leader", "commander"
qaimaqam	A minor official of the Ottoman Empire	[C][OED]	Also written kaymakam, kaimakam, caimacam, or qaim makam	From Arabic قائم‎, "standing" + مقام‎ "place", meaning "standing in place"
qalamdan	A Persian writing-case	[C]		Persian قلمدان
qalandar	A member of an order of mendicant dervishes	[RHU]	Also written calender, or capitalised
qanat	A type of water-supply tunnel found in north Africa and the Middle East	[ODE][C][OED][AOX]	Also written kanat, khanat, kunut, kona, konait, ghanat, or ghundat	Persian, from Arabic qanāt, "channel"
qanun	A type of harp	[OED]	Also written qanon or kanun [OED]	Arabic قانون‎, rule, principle or mode
qasida	An Arabian poem of praise or satire	[C][OED][AOX]	Also written qasidah	Arabic قصيدة‎
qat	A kind of Arabian shrub used as a narcotic	[L][C][OED]	More commonly written khat, kat or gat	Arabic qāt
qawwal	A person who practises qawwali music	[ODE][C][AOX]
qawwali	Devotional music of the Sufis	[ODE][C][AOX]		Arabic قوٌالی‎ (qawwāli), "loquacious" or "singer"
qepiq	An Azerbaijani unit of currency	[AH]		Azerbaijani qəpik
qere	A marginal reading in the Hebrew Bible	[OED][WI]	Also written qeri [WI] or qre [WI]	Aramaic קְרֵי‎, "[what is] read"
qhat	An obsolete spelling of what	[OED]
qheche	An obsolete spelling of which	[OED]
qhom	An obsolete spelling of whom	[OED]
qhythsontyd	An obsolete spelling of Whitsuntide (the day of Pentecost)	[OED]
qi	In Chinese culture, a physical life force	[ODE][C][AHC][OED]	Commonly written chi or ki	simplified Chinese: 气; traditional Chinese: 氣
qiana	A type of nylon	[OED]		Originally a trademark of DuPont, now generic
qibla	The point to which Muslims turn in prayer	[ODE][COD][C][OED][AOX]	Also written qiblah [OED], kiblah, qiblih, kibla or qib'lah [RHU], sometimes capitalised	17th Century Arabic, "the opposite"
qibli	A local Libyan name for the sirocco, a southeasterly Mediterranean wind	[OED]	Also written ghibli	Arabic قبلي‎, "coming from the qibla
qigong	A Chinese system of medical exercises	[ODE][C][AOX]	Also written chi gong, ki gong, or chi kung	simplified Chinese: 气功; traditional Chinese: 氣功
qin	A classification of Chinese musical instruments	[AOX]		Chinese: 琴
qinah	A Hebrew elegy	[WI]	Also written kinah; plural qinot, qinoth	Hebrew קינה‎
qindar, qindarkë	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
qinghaosu	A drug, artemisinin, used to treat malaria	[C]		Chinese: 青蒿素
qipao	A traditional Chinese dress	[OED]	Also written chi pao	Chinese: 旗袍
qirsh	A monetary unit of Saudi Arabia and, formerly, various other countries	[RHU]	Also written qurush, qursh, gursh, girsh or ghirsh
qiviut	The wool of the musk-ox	[OED]		Inuktitut ᕿᕕᐅᖅ
qiyas	An analogy in Sharia, Islamic law	[RHW]		Arabic قياس‎
qoph	The nineteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet	[L][C]	Also written koph	Hebrew קוף‎
qorma	A type of curry	[Co]	Much more commonly written korma	Persian→Urdu قورمه‎
qwerty	A standard English keyboard layout	[ODE][COD][LC][C][AOX][OED]	Plural qwertys or qwerties; also rendered QWERTY	Named after the letters on the top row of keys.
rencq	An obsolete spelling of rank	[OED]
sambuq	A type of Dhow, a small Arabian boat	[OED]		Arabic سنبوك‎
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
souq	An Arab marketplace	[ODE][C][OED][AOX]	Also written sooq, soq, suq, souk, esouk, or suk	Arabic سوق‎ (sūq)
talaq	A form of Islamic divorce	[ODE][C][OED]		Arabic talaq, from talaqa, "repudiate"
taluq	An Indian estate	[OED]	Also written taluk or talook	Arabic→Urdu تعلقه‎, ta'alluqa, "connection", "relationship"
taluqdar	A person who collects the revenues of a taluq	[OED]	Also written talukdar or talookdar	Arabic→Urdu تعلقدار‎, ta'alluq-dar, "landholder", "possessor of an estate", "lord of a manor"
taluqdari	An Indian landholding tenure	[OED]
taqiya	In Islam, the dissimulation of faith displayed for fear of one's life	[RHW]	Also written taqiyah [RHU], or capitalised	Arabic التقية‎
taqlid	Acceptance of Muslim orthodoxy	[RHW]		Arabic قْلي‎
tariqa	A Sufi method of spiritual development, or a Sufi missionary	[E][AOX]	Also written tariqat [E] or tarika	Arabic طريق‎
tranq	A form of sedative	[OED]	Also written trank [OED]	Apocopation from tranquilizer
tsaddiq	In Judaism, a term bestowed upon the righteous.	[C][OED]	Plural tsaddiqs or tsaddiqim; also written tzaddiq [C], tzadik or tzaddik	Hebrew צדיק‎
umiaq	An open Inuit boat	[OSPD4]	Also spelled umiak, umialak, umiac, oomiac or oomiak
waqf	A charitable trust in Islamic law	[ODE][C][OED]	Also written wakf; plural waqf [ODE][C][OED] or waqfs [C][OED]	Arabic, literally "stoppage" from waqafa, "come to a standstill"
yaqona	A Fijian intoxicating beverage, kava	[C][OED]		Fijian yaqona, in which q represents [ŋɡ]

Uses in Scrabble

In many word games, notably in Scrabble, a player must build a word using a certain set of letters. If a player is obliged to use a q but does not have a u, it may be possible to play words from this list. Not all words in this list are acceptable in Scrabble tournament games. Scrabble tournaments around the world use their own sets of words from selected dictionaries which may not contain all the words listed here.

In Scrabble in North America, the number of accepted words changes when the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary is updated every five years – for example in a 2003 interview, John D. Williams, Jr. pointed out that "QI is not good in North American SCRABBLE play, only the rest of the world." Qi was added to the official North American word list in 2006. Qi is the most commonly played word in Scrabble tournaments.

Other words listed in this article, such as suq, umiaq or qiviut, are also acceptable, but since these contain a u, they are less likely to be useful in the situation described.

See also

• List of words without vowel letters
• Constrained writing

Footnotes

• [AH]:
• [AHC]:
• [AOX]:
• [C]:
• [Co]:
• [COD]:
• [E]:
• [L]:
• [LC]:
• [MW]:
• [MWO]:
• [ODE]:
• [OED]:
• [OSPD4]:
• [RHU]:
• [RHW]:
• [SOED]:
• [TWL]:
• [W]:
• [WI]:

Further reading

• Scrabble Word Lists Q without U – Parker Brothers, attributed to:

External links

• Wiktionary's list of English words containing Q not followed by U: [1]