よう - Meaning in Japanese

In Japanese, you よう (or yoo よー, yoo よぉ with a long vowel) may mean various different things depending on context, specially as there are multiple homonyms so it may spell different words. For disambiguation:

• you 様, literally "appearance," used in "the way it is," homograph with ~sama ～様. It's an auxiliary (like a light noun that conjugates as a na-adjective) that's normally spelled in hiragana, and has various different uses.
  • henji ga nai. tada no shikabane no you da
    返事がない。ただの屍の様だ
    There's no response. It seems to be just a corpse.
  • nige-you ga nai
    逃げ様がない
    There's no way of escaping.
  • {{yuurei ga mieru} you ni} naru
    幽霊が見える様になる
    To become {in such way [that] {is able to see ghosts}}.
    To become able to see ghosts.
  • {{anata wo damasu} you na} mane wa shinai
    あなたを騙す様な真似はしない
    [I] wouldn't do something {like {deceiving you}}.
  • dono you na?
    どの様な？
    What sort of? What sort of [thing is it]? The thing you're talking about is like what?
  • {{sekai ga owatta ka no} you ni} kanjite-ita
    世界が終わったかのように感じていた
    [It] felt {as if {the world had ended}}.
  • {{okane wo nusumu} you na} hito janai
    お金を盗む様な人じゃない
    [He] isn't a person {the sort [that] {would steal money}}.
  • {{hayaku} naorimasu} you ni
    早く治ります様に
    [Let it be so that] {[it] heals {quickly}}. (used when making wishes, praying for things.)
• you 用, literally "business," "use." Sometimes spelled in hiragana.
  • nani ka you?
    何か用？
    [Do you have] any business [with me]?
    Do you have something to discuss with me?
  • nan'no you da?
    何の用だ？
    What business [do you have with me]?
    (same meaning, basically.)
  • omae ni you ga aru
    お前に用がある
    [I] have business with you.
  • jissen-you no katana
    実戦用の刀
    A sword for real-battle. (as opposed to for training.)
• ~you ～よう is the ending of some verb types in volitional form.
  • benkyou shiyou
    勉強しよう
    Let's study.
    (verb suru する.)
  • tabeyou
    食べよう
    Let's eat.
    (ichidan verb.)
• you 要 means "necessity" or "necessary."
  
  • you suru ni
    要するに
    In summary. (i.e. to say only what's necessary.)
  • you wa kateba ii-n-da
    要は勝てばいいんだ
    In summary, [I] just need to win. (nevermind the details, that's all that's necessary.)
• you 陽 means "sunshine," or the spot where the sun hits. Also "yang." Meanwhile "ying" is in 陰. Related words are taiyou 太陽, "sun," and kage 陰, "shade."
  • you-kyara (or you-kya)
    陽キャラ (陽キャ)
    "Sunshine character." Slang for a character with "cheerful," youki 陽気, personality. An extrovert. A riajuu リア充. Etc.
  • in-kyara (or in-kya)
    陰キャラ (陰キャ)
    "Shade character." Slang for a character with "gloomy," inki 陰気, personality. An introvert. A hikikomori 引きこもり. Etc.
• you 良う means "good," "well," a variant of yoku 良く, adverbial form of yoi 良い.
  • youkoso
    良うこそ
    Welcome.
    • yoku zo kita
      よくぞ来た
      Well done coming [here].
• you 酔う means "to get drunk." Although you're more likely to see it in the te-iru form: yotte-iru 酔っている, "[he] is drunk."

Ironically, you よう doesn't mean "you," the second person pronoun. For that, yuu ユー would be the katakanization, e.g. ai rabu yuu アイ・ラブ・ユー, "I love you."