W

W is the twenty-third (number 23) letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name is pronounced "double-u".^{[note 1]} It is the only letter whose name has three syllables in English.

W
W w
Usage
Writing system	Latin script
Type	Alphabetic and Logographic
Unicode value	U+0057, U+0077
Alphabetical position	23
History
Development	Υ υ 𐌖 Y V W w
Time period	~600 to present
Other

The Latin alphabet
	Aa	Bb	Cc	Dd
Ee	Ff	Gg	Hh	Ii	Jj
Kk	Ll	Mm	Nn	Oo	Pp
Qq	Rr	Ss	Tt	Uu	Vv
	Ww	Xx	Yy	Zz

In words like away, what, write and women, the letter W is a consonant (semivowel). In words like draw, few and low, the letter W is a vowel.

Meanings for W

• On calendars, W is most times a short letter for Wednesday.
• In chemistry, W is the symbol for tungsten, after its German name, Wolfram.
• In news story writing, the "five W's" stand for who, what, when, where and why.
• In electricity, W stands for watts
• In particle physics, W stands for the W boson. Some words sound as if they start with an R, but they start with a silent W, like wrong, and wreck, which is why you never hear the W at the beginning of these words, as you can see. Note that only the R sound can be heard, because it comes after the silent W starting the words.
• In slang, W stands for Win.

Notes

1. Pronounced /ˈdʌbəl.juː, ˈdʌb(ə)juː, -jə/

Other websites

The dictionary definition of w at Wiktionary
Media related to W at Wikimedia Commons