Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

liu

/liˈoʊ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.74 in modern English

Syllables: liu
IPA: /liˈoʊ/

3

Scrabble Score

3

Letters

1

Syllables

3

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A surname from Chinese.

name

A surname from Chinese.

name

A surname from Chinese.

Example Sentences

"We now have good reason to question the pursuits of the vaunted innovators with whom Liu consorted in California – the blissed-out cultists at Google, whose only worry is over “the wrong kind of sparkling water in the microkitchens”, or the manic experts who specialise in “envisioning hyperplanes in n-dimensional space”."

Etymology

From several Chinese surnames, including: * From Mandarin 劉 /刘 (liú). Doublet of Lau and Luu. * From Cantonese 廖 (liu⁶). Doublet of Liao.

Word Breakdown

Root: 劉, 廖

Inflected Forms

Lius (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

Lü

Homonyms

lew lieu lue (without yod-dropping)

Rhymes With

to you do who to-do new two too through few true due

Questions

How do you pronounce liu?: The recorded pronunciation is /liˈoʊ/.
What does liu mean?: A surname from Chinese.
Where does liu come from?: From several Chinese surnames, including: * From Mandarin 劉 /刘 (liú). Doublet of Lau and Luu. * From Cantonese 廖 (liu⁶). Doublet of Liao.

How to pronounce liu

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “liu”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/liˈoʊ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “liu”.
Repeat and practice — Say “liu” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.