different between cue vs cueless

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kju?/, [kj???]
• Rhymes: -u?
• Homophones: queue, Q

Etymology 1

From Middle English cu (“half a farthing”), spelled form of q, abbreviation for Latin quadr?ns (“quarter of an as”).

Noun

cue (plural cues)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter Q.

Translations

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) letter; a, bee, cee, dee, e, ef, gee, aitch, i, jay, kay, el, em, en, o, pee, cue, ar, ess, tee, u, vee, double-u, ex, wye, zee / zed

Etymology 2

From earlier qu, abbreviation of Latin quand? (“when”), marked on actor's play copy where they were to begin.

Noun

cue (plural cues)

1. An action or event that is a signal for somebody to do something.
2. The last words of a play actor's speech, serving as an intimation for the next actor to speak; any word or words which serve to remind an actor to speak or to do something; a catchword.
3. A hint or intimation.
   • 1731, Jonathan Swift, Directions to Servants

     Give them [the servants] their cue to attend in two lines as he leaves the house.

4. (obsolete) Humour; temper of mind.
5. (obsolete, Britain, universities) A small portion of bread or beer; the quantity bought with a farthing or half farthing and noted with a q (for Latin quadrans farthing) in the buttery books.

Derived terms

• cue card
• cue-to-cue
• on cue
• right on cue
• sensory cue

Translations

Verb

cue (third-person singular simple present cues, present participle cueing or cuing, simple past and past participle cued)

1. To give someone a cue signal.

   Cue the cameraman, and action!
2. (by extension) To spark or provoke.

Usage notes

This is often used in the imperative.

Etymology 3

Variant of queue, from French queue (“tail”).

Noun

cue (plural cues)

1. (sports, billiards, snooker, pool) A straight tapering stick used to hit the balls in various games.
2. (obsolete) The tail; the end of a thing; especially, a tail-like twist of hair worn at the back of the head; a queue.

Derived terms

• cue ball

Translations

Verb

cue (third-person singular simple present cues, present participle cueing or cuing, simple past and past participle cued)

1. (sports, billiards, snooker, pool) To take aim on the cue ball with the cue and hit it.
2. To form into a cue; to braid; to twist.

Synonyms

• cue up

References

Further reading

• cue in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• cue in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• ECU, Ecu., UCE, ecu, écu

Classical Nahuatl

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??/

Interjection

cue

1. (mild exclamation)

Ik

Noun

cue

1. water; liquid

Further reading

• Terrill Schrock, On whether 'Dorobo' was a fourth Kuliak language, in Studies in African Linguistics, volume 44, number 1 (2015) (gives pronunciation: [t??e?])
• Terrill Schrock, The Ik Language (2017)

Old French

Alternative forms

• coe
• queue

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin c?da, from Latin cauda.

Noun

cue f (oblique plural cues, nominative singular cue, nominative plural cues)

1. tail (of an animal)

Descendants

• Middle French: queu, cueue
  • French: queue
  • English: queue, cue (partly through Anglo-Norman)

References

• cowe on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

English

Etymology

cue +? -less

Adjective

cueless (not comparable)

1. Without a cue (prompt).