W

From a modification of the Latin letter V (“ve”), from the Etruscan letter 𐌖 (u, “u”), from the Ancient Greek letter Υ (U, “ypsilon”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤅 (w, “waw”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓏲.

Its use as a symbol for tungsten is based on German Wolfram.

Letter

W (lower case w)

The twenty-third letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

Symbol

W

(chemistry) Symbol for tungsten.
(metrology) Symbol for watt.
(biochemistry) IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation for tryptophan.
(physics) work
(historical) Wedgwood scale of temperature
(Voice Quality Symbols) whisper

Derived terms

(metrology): lm/W, W/m²

Gallery

Letter styles
Uppercase and lowercase versions of W, in normal and italic type
Uppercase and lowercase W in Fraktur

English

Pronunciation

Name of letter

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdʌb(əl)juː/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈdʌbə(l)ju/, sometimes reduced to /ˈdʌbjə/.
(US, abbreviation, rare, nonstandard) IPA^(key): /ˈdʌb/
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Rhymes: -ʌbəlju, -ʌbjə, -ʌb

Etymology 1

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w, plural Ws or W's)

The twenty-third letter of the English alphabet, called double U and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

Abbreviations of various words beginning with W.

Noun

W (plural Ws)

Abbreviation of women (sign on toilet door).
Coordinate term: M (“men”)
- 2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections, New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page 332:
  From the Kierkegaard Room he lopingly careened through a red-carpeted hallway that had previously vouchsafed him a comfort station but this morning seemed all business, no M or W in sight, just salons and boutiques and the Ingmar Bergman Cinema.
(uncountable) Abbreviation of west.
Coordinate terms: E (“east”), N (“north”), S (“south”)
Abbreviation of Wednesday.
Synonyms: Wed, Wed.

Coordinate terms: Su, M, Tu, Th, F, Sa
(sports) Abbreviation of wins (statistic).
Coordinate terms: L (“losses”), T (“ties”)
(countable, Internet slang) Abbreviation of win.
Coordinate term: L (“loss”)

You say that like it's not an absolute W.
(cricket) Abbreviation of wicket.
(law enforcement) Abbreviation of warrant.

Derived terms

(sports): OTW
(compass): NNW, NW, SSW, SW, WNW, WSW
(internet slang): dub
(others): C of W, W particle, W-2 employee, W-sitting, W chromosome, W-League, Lambert W function, W in the chat

Translations

west — see also west

German: W (de) m
Hungarian: Ny (hu)
Swedish: V (sv)

Wednesday — see also Wednesday

Swedish: O (sv)

(sports) wins

Hungarian: Gy (hu)
Swedish: V (sv)

Adjective

W (comparative more W, superlative most W)

(slang) Excellent, top-notch (abbreviation of winner). (Compare noun sense 4 and sense 5.)
Antonym: L (“bad, subpar”)

You, sir, are a W man.

You got her number? W rizz!

Proper noun

W

(US politics, informal) George W. Bush (born 1946), the 43rd president of the United States (2001–2009).
Synonyms: Dubya, GWB

Noun

W

(stenoscript) Abbreviation of week.
(stenoscript) Abbreviation of west.

Afar

Letter

W

The twentieth letter in the Afar alphabet.

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /vɪə/

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w)

The twenty-third letter of the Afrikaans alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

W (plural W's, diminutive W'tjie)

W

Basque

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ube bikoi̯t͡s̻/, [u.β̞e̞ β̞i.ko̞i̯t͡s̻]

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w)

The twenty-fourth letter of the Basque alphabet, called uve bikoitz and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

Used chiefly in recent loanwords and foreign proper nouns.

Central Franconian

Etymology

/ʋ/ is from West Germanic stem-initial *w.
For the origin of /v/, see V.

Pronunciation

/ʋ/, (chiefly Moselle Franconian also) /v/, (coda) [f]

Letter

W

A letter in the German-based alphabet of Central Franconian.
A letter in the Dutch-based alphabet of Central Franconian.

Usage notes

Systems for the use of W

/ʋ/ is regularly represented by w in all systems.
In the German-based spelling of Moselle Franconian, /v/ is normally spelt w as it is a post-vocalic allophone of /ʋ/.
In the German-based spelling of Ripuarian, /v/ is normally spelt v, but w may be used in iwig, Löw, Möw after the German cognate. A phonemic distinction from /ʋ/ is doubtful and exists at most in very rare cases.
In Aachen and the Netherlands there is a clear phonemic distinction between w /ʋ/ and v /v/, and these are thus kept apart.

Doubling of W and use in the syllable coda

In the German-based spelling, w is doubled after short vowels except in certain function words and when the letter is followed by another consonant within the word stem. In the syllable coda, the choice between w and f may be based on internal analogy, but f is often used throughout or after the German cognate.
In the Dutch-based spelling, w is doubled after short vowels if the syllable were otherwise open.

Chinese

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): wàn (wan⁴)

(Zhuyin): ㄨㄢˋ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wàn
  - Zhuyin: ㄨㄢˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: wàn
  - Wade–Giles: wan⁴
  - Yale: wàn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wann
  - Palladius: вань (vanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /wän⁵¹/

Numeral

W

(Internet slang) Alternative form of 萬 / 万 (wàn)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation 1

Mandarin
(Pinyin): dábuliu

(Zhuyin): ㄉㄚˊ ˙ㄅㄨ ˙ㄌㄧㄡ
Cantonese (Jyutping): dap¹ bu⁴ liu⁴ / dap¹ bou⁴ ju⁴ / dap¹
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): tâ bu-liù

(Teochew, Peng'im): dab⁸ liu⁷
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁸daq ⁷beq ⁶li ⁷eq

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: dábuliu
  - Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˊ ˙ㄅㄨ ˙ㄌㄧㄡ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: dábůlio̊u
  - Wade–Giles: ta²-pu⁵-liu⁵
  - Yale: dá-bu-lyou
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dar.bu.liou
  - Palladius: дабулю (dabulju)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tä³⁵ b̥u³ li̯oʊ̯¹/

Note: buliu often merged into one syllable..

Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: dap¹ bu⁴ liu⁴ / dap¹ bou⁴ ju⁴ / dap¹
  - Yale: dāp bùh lìuh / dāp bòuh yùh / dāp
  - Cantonese Pinyin: dap⁷ bu⁴ liu⁴ / dap⁷ bou⁴ ju⁴ / dap⁷
  - Guangdong Romanization: deb¹ bu⁴ liu⁴ / deb¹ bou⁴ yu⁴ / deb¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɐp̚⁵ puː²¹ liːu̯²¹/, /tɐp̚⁵ pou̯²¹ juː²¹/, /tɐp̚⁵/

Note: dap1 bou4 ju4, dap1 - Hong Kong.

Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tâ bu-liù
  - Tâi-lô: tâ bu-liù
  - Phofsit Daibuun: daa buliux
  - IPA (Xiamen): /ta²⁴⁻²² bu⁴⁴⁻²² liu²¹/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: dab⁸ liu⁷
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: ta̍p liū
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tap̚⁴⁻² liu¹¹/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁸daq ⁷beq ⁶li ⁷eq
  - MiniDict: dah^入 beh^入 li^去 eh^入
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ⁵daq ⁴beq ³li ⁴eq
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /daʔ¹² bəʔ⁵⁵ li²³ əʔ⁵⁵/

Note: li eq - often realised as one syllable.

Letter

W

The twenty-third letter of the Latin alphabet.

Pronunciation 2

Mandarin
(Pinyin): wū, wā (wu¹, wa¹)

(Zhuyin): ㄨ, ㄨㄚ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, common)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wū
  - Zhuyin: ㄨ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: wu
  - Wade–Giles: wu¹
  - Yale: wū
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: u
  - Palladius: у (u)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /u⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese, official)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wā
  - Zhuyin: ㄨㄚ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: wa
  - Wade–Giles: wa¹
  - Yale: wā
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ua
  - Palladius: ва (va)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /wä⁵⁵/

Letter

W

The twenty-third letter used in Pinyin.

Usage notes

《汉语拼音方案》 defines a standard pronunciation for each letter. However, these pronunciations are rarely used in education; another pronunciation is commonly used instead.
The pronunciation above are only used while referring to letters in Pinyin. They are not used in other context (such as English).

Danish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dɔbəlveː/, [ˈd̥ʌb̥əlˌveːˀ]

Letter

W (lowercase w)

the twenty-third letter of the Danish alphabet

Dutch

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /ʋeː/
Audio: (file)

Letter

W (capital, lowercase w)

the twenty-third letter of the Dutch alphabet

Adverb

W

Abbreviation of west; west

Esperanto

Noun

W

Abbreviation of uesto (“west”).

Finnish

Etymology

The Finnish orthography using the Latin script was based on those of Swedish, German and Latin, and was first used in the mid-16th century. No earlier script is known. See the Wikipedia article on Finnish for more information, and W for information on the development of the glyph itself.

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w)

A letter of the Finnish alphabet, called kaksoisvee and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

In the Finnish alphabet, W is a variant of V.
Used only in loanwords, old/archaic language and proper names with old spelling (e.g. Wirtanen). Specifically, W was still used when Finnish was typed in fraktur (blackletter), but as the Roman type replaced it in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, V took its place.

Derived terms

compounds

W-bosoni

German

Pronunciation

(letter name) IPA^(key): /veː/
- Audio: (file)
- Homophone: weh
(phoneme) IPA^(key): /v/, [v], [ʋ]
- /v/ is almost invariably [ʋ] in schw-, zw- (and qu-). Otherwise both are in free variation; as a broad tendency [v] is more northern, [ʋ] more southern.

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w)

The twenty-third letter of the German alphabet.

Noun

W

Abbreviation of West (“west”)

Hungarian

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): [ˈv]
(letter name): IPA^(key): [ˈduplɒveː]

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w)

A letter of the extended Hungarian alphabet, called dupla vé and written in the Latin script.

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	W	W-k
accusative	W-t	W-ket
dative	W-nek	W-knek
instrumental	W-vel	W-kkel
causal-final	W-ért	W-kért
translative	W-vé	W-kké
terminative	W-ig	W-kig
essive-formal	W-ként	W-kként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	W-ben	W-kben
superessive	W-n	W-ken
adessive	W-nél	W-knél
illative	W-be	W-kbe
sublative	W-re	W-kre
allative	W-hez	W-khez
elative	W-ből	W-kből
delative	W-ről	W-kről
ablative	W-től	W-ktől
non-attributive possessive - singular	W-é	W-ké
non-attributive possessive - plural	W-éi	W-kéi

Possessive forms of W
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	W-m	W-im
2nd person sing.	W-d	W-id
3rd person sing.	W-je	W-i
1st person plural	W-nk	W-ink
2nd person plural	W-tek	W-itek
3rd person plural	W-jük	W-ik

Ido

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /w/

Letter

W (lower case w)

The twenty-third letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Italian

Italian Wikipedia has an article on:

W

Wikipedia ^it

Pronunciation

(letter name):
- like vu doppia, doppia vu or (traditional) like doppio vu
  - Rhymes: -oppja, -u
- (in English contexts) IPA^(key): /ˈda.blju/, /ˈda.bol ˈju/
  - Rhymes: -ablju, -u
- (for brevity in common acronyms) like vu
  - Rhymes: -u
(phonemic realization) IPA^(key): /v/, /w/ (varies depending on the source language of the loanword)

Letter

W f or m (invariable, upper case, lower case w)

the twenty-third letter of the Latin alphabet, called doppia vu or vu doppia in Italian

Usage notes

The letter W is not considered part of the Italian alphabet. It is found mainly in loanwords.

Symbol

W

viva, evviva (“up with”)
Antonym: M (“down with”)

Japanese

Noun

W(ダブル) • (daburu)

Alternative spelling of ダブル (“double”)

Kashubian

Etymology

The Kashubian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Kashubian alphabet article on Wikipedia for more, and W for development of the glyph itself.

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w)

The thirtieth letter of the Kashubian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /w/

Letter

W (lower case w)

The thirtieth letter of the Lower Sorbian alphabet, called wej and written in the Latin script.

Malay

Malay Wikipedia has an article on:

W

Wikipedia ^ms

Pronunciation

(Name of letter) IPA^(key): [dabliu], [dabəliu], [dabəlju], [dablju]
(Phoneme) IPA^(key): [w]

Letter

W

The twenty-third letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Navajo

Letter

W (lower case w)

A letter of the Navajo alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Norwegian

Letter

W (upper case W, lower case w)

the 23th letter of the Norwegian alphabet

Usage notes

Only in loan words and foreign names. Also used in old inscriptions and texts instead of v.

Nupe

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /w/

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w)

The twenty-seventh letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Polish

Etymology

The Polish orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the history of Polish orthography article on Wikipedia for more, and W for development of the glyph itself.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈvu/

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w)

The twenty-eighth letter of the Polish alphabet, called wu and written in the Latin script.

Portuguese

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w)

The twenty-third letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Romani

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w)

A letter used to represent the voiced labial-velar approximant (/w/) in the International Standard orthography.

References

Yūsuke Sumi (2018) “w”, in ニューエクスプレス　ロマ（ジプシー）語 [New Express Romani (Gypsy)] (in Japanese), Tokyo: Hakusuisha, →ISBN, page 16

Romanian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /v/, /w/, /u/

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w)

The twenty-eighth letter of the Romanian alphabet, called dublu ve or dublu vî and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

Used chiefly in recent loanwords and foreign proper nouns.

Saanich

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /w/

Letter

W

The thirty-third letter of the Saanich alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Silesian

Etymology

The Silesian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Silesian language article on Wikipedia for more, and W for development of the glyph itself.

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w)

The thirtieth letter of the Silesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Slovene

Slovene Wikipedia has an article on:

W

Wikipedia ^sl

Letter

W (capital, lowercase w)

The thirty-second letter of the Slovene alphabet (Resian), written in the Latin script.

Somali

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /w/, /u̯/, /ʉ̯/
(letter name): IPA^(key): /wæʉ̯/

Letter

W upper case (lower case w)

The twentieth letter of the Somali alphabet, called waw and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

The twentieth letter of the Somali alphabet, which follows Arabic abjad order. It is preceded by N and followed by H.

Spanish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (phoneme) /w/, /ɡw/, /β/
IPA^(key): (letter name) /ˌube ˈdoble/ [ˌu.β̞e ˈð̞o.β̞le]
IPA^(key): (letter name) /ˈdoble ˌbe/ [ˈd̪o.β̞le ˌβ̞e]
- Audio (Spain): (file)

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w)

the 24th letter of the Spanish alphabet
Synonyms: (Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico) doble u, (Latin America) doble ve, (Spain) uve doble, (Peru) ve doble

Swedish

Alternative forms

V (variant of)
dubbel-V (spelled out)

Etymology

Borrowed from German W and English W, derived from Latin V, derived from Latin U.^[1] First attested in 1717.^[2]

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w)

the 23rd (or optional) letter of the Swedish alphabet

Usage notes

Within most acronyms, the pronunciation of the separate letter is identical to that of V.
The letter is often described as an optional inclusion to the Swedish alphabet.
Since 2006 the letter has been categorised as a separate letter by the dictionary Svenska Akademins Ordlista (SAOL). Before that, it was viewed as a variant of the letter V and sorted thereunder.^[3]

References

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English W. Each pronunciation has a different source:

Filipino alphabet pronunciation is influenced by English W.
Abakada alphabet pronunciation is influenced by Baybayin character ᜏ (wa).

Formerly, the letter U was used to represent /w/ in the Spanish-based orthography.

Pronunciation

(Standard Tagalog)
- IPA^(key): /ˈdobolju/ [ˌd̪oː.bolˈju] (letter name, Filipino alphabet)
  - Rhymes: -obolju
- IPA^(key): /ˈwa/ [ˈwa] (letter name, Abakada alphabet)
  - Rhymes: -a
- IPA^(key): /ˈʔu/ [ˈʔu] (phoneme)

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w, Baybayin spelling ᜇᜓᜊᜓᜎ᜔ᜌᜓ)

The twenty-fifth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Filipino alphabet), called dobolyu and written in the Latin script.

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w, Baybayin spelling ᜏ)

The nineteenth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Abakada alphabet), called wa and written in the Latin script.

Welsh

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /uː/

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w)

The twenty-eighth letter of the Welsh alphabet, called w and written in the Latin script. It is preceded by U and followed by Y.

Mutation

W cannot be mutated but when representing a vowel, does take h-prothesis, for example with the word wy (“egg”):

Mutated forms of wy
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
wy	unchanged	unchanged	hwy

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

However, when it represents the semivowel /w/, W cannot be mutated.

Mutated forms of *wal*
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
wal	unchanged	unchanged	unchanged

Yoruba

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /w/
(letter name): IPA^(key): /wí/

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w)

The twenty-fourth letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called wí and written in the Latin script.

Zulu

Letter

W (upper case, lower case w)

The twenty-third letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.