English Meaning & Definitions
The name of the letter 'w', the twenty-third letter of the modern English alphabet.
- “The word 'water' begins with a double u.”
- “Children learning the alphabet often confuse the pronunciation of double u with other letters.”
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “double u”.
The name of the letter 'w', originating in the late Middle Ages (around the 11th century) when scribes writing in Middle English needed a character to represent the voiced bilabial approximant sound /w/. Because the Anglo-Saxon rune 'wynn' fell out of use, they ligatured two 'v' or 'u' letters together. In early printing and cursive scripts, two 'v's were used (hence 'double-v' in French and some other languages), but in English, because two 'u's were frequently written adjacent to each other, the name 'double u' became standard.
Visualize writing two letter 'u's right next to each other to form 'W'.
Frequently Asked Questions About “double u”
1. What is the meaning of “double u” in English?
In English, double u (noun) is defined as: “The name of the letter 'w', the twenty-third letter of the modern English alphabet.”.
2. How do you use “double u” in a sentence?
“The word 'water' begins with a double u.”
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “double u”?
The name of the letter 'w', originating in the late Middle Ages (around the 11th century) when scribes writing in Middle English needed a character to represent the voiced bilabial approximant sound /w/. Because the Anglo-Saxon rune 'wynn' fell out of use, they ligatured two 'v' or 'u' letters together. In early printing and cursive scripts, two 'v's were used (hence 'double-v' in French and some other languages), but in English, because two 'u's were frequently written adjacent to each other, the name 'double u' became standard.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
View all English words →The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.
A specific duration of time equivalent to one hour and forty-six minutes.