emu

¹

[ ee-myoo ]

noun

1. a large, flightless, ratite bird, Emu ( Dromaius ) novaehollandiae, of Australia, resembling the ostrich but smaller and having a feathered head and neck and rudimentary wings.

EMU

²

1. Also electromagnetic unit.
2. Aerospace. extravehicular mobility unit.

e.m.u.

¹

abbreviation for

1. electromagnetic unit

emu

²

/ ˈiːmjuː /

noun

1. a large Australian flightless bird, Dromaius novaehollandiae, similar to the ostrich but with three-toed feet and grey or brown plumage: order Casuariiformes See also ratite

EMU

³

abbreviation for

1. European Monetary Union
2. Economic and Monetary Union
3. See e.m.u.

EMU

1. Abbreviation of electromagnetic unit

Word History and Origins

Origin of emu¹

1605–15; earlier emeu (in earliest E source emia, eme ), ultimately < Portuguese ema, attested in 1541 as a name for the cassowary (further origin obscure); the replacement of -a by -eu, etc., is unexplained

Word History and Origins

Origin of emu¹

C17: changed from Portuguese ema ostrich, from Arabic Na-`amah ostrich

Example Sentences

Gordon Brown, too, resisted the siren calls of the Europhiles in his own party to take Britain into the EMU.

From The Daily Beast

Around my middle I wore a kind of double apron of emu skin, with feathers.

From Project Gutenberg

A man of the Emu phratry marries a woman of the Kangaroo phratry, and to that phratry her children belong.

From Project Gutenberg

Lizard man, in local group Emu, might marry Snipe woman also in local group Emu, as far as extant totem law now goes.

From Project Gutenberg

Emu local group is now full of members of Snipe, Lizard, and other animal-named members by maternal descent.

From Project Gutenberg

Thus Lizard man, in Emu local group, cannot marry Snipe woman in the same.

From Project Gutenberg