W

See also: Appendix:Variations of "w"

W	U+0057, W LATIN CAPITAL LETTER W

← V
[U+0056]

Basic Latin

X →
[U+0058]

Ｗ	U+FF37, Ｗ FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER W

← Ｖ
[U+FF36]

Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms

Ｘ →
[U+FF38]

Translingual

Alternative forms

UU, Uu, VV, Vv (obsolete)

Etymology

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.

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
(Voice Quality Symbols) whisper

Gallery

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

English

Pronunciation

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

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.

Noun

W (plural Ws)

Abbreviation of women (sign on toilet door).
Coordinate term: M (“men”)
- 2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections
  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”)
(cricket) Abbreviation of wicket.
(law enforcement) Abbreviation of warrant.
(Internet slang, countable) A win.
Coordinate term: L
(Can we add an example for this sense?)

Derived terms

(sports): OTW
(compass): NNW, NW, SSW, SW, WNW, WSW
(internet slang): dub

Translations

west — See also translations at west

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

Wednesday — See also translations at Wednesday

Swedish: O (sv)

(sports) wins

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

Noun

W

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

Proper noun

W

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

Adjective

W (comparative more W, superlative most W)

(slang) Excellent, top-notch.
Antonym: L
You, sir, are a W mans.

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

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).

Pronunciation 1

Mandarin
(Pinyin): dábuliu
(Zhuyin): ㄉㄚˊ ˙ㄅㄨ ˙ㄌㄧㄡ
Cantonese (Jyutping): dap¹ bu⁴ liu⁴, dap¹ bou⁴ ju⁴, dap¹
Min Nan
(Hokkien, POJ): tâ bu-liù
(Teochew, Peng'im): dab⁸ liu⁷
Wu (Wiktionary): daq (T5) + peq (T4) + li (T3) + eq (T4)

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 ljoʊ̯¹/

Note: buliu often merged into one syllable..

Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - 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.

Min Nan
- (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
- (Shanghainese)
  - Wiktionary: daq (T5) + peq (T4) + li (T3) + eq (T4)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /d̥a̱ʔ¹² pəʔ⁵⁵ li²³ əʔ⁵⁵/

Note:

4peq can be voiced;
3li&4eq 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

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 and proper names with old spelling (compare Wirtanen).

German

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /veː/
Audio (file)
Homophone: weh

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

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”)

Malay

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.

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /vu/

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.

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

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”):

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
wy	unchanged	unchanged	hwy
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

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

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
wal	unchanged	unchanged	unchanged^△
^△Irregular.

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.

W

Translingual

Alternative forms

Etymology

Letter

See also

Symbol

Gallery

See also

English

Pronunciation

Letter

See also

Noun

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

Proper noun

Adjective

Afar

Letter

See also

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

Letter

See also

Noun

Basque

Pronunciation

Letter

Usage notes

See also

Central Franconian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Letter

Usage notes

Chinese

Pronunciation

Numeral

Pronunciation 1

Letter

Pronunciation 2

Letter

Usage notes

Danish

Pronunciation

Letter

See also

Dutch

Pronunciation

Letter

Adverb

See also

Esperanto

Noun

Finnish

Letter

Usage notes

See also

German

Pronunciation

Letter

Noun

Hungarian

Pronunciation

Letter

Declension

See also

Ido

Pronunciation

Letter

See also

Italian

Pronunciation

Letter

Usage notes

Symbol

See also

Further reading