W

W
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
	This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

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

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 W is a consonant (semivowel). In words like draw, few, low and cwm, the 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" are 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.

W Media

Early Aramaic character - vav
ProtosemiticW
Phoenician Waw
One epigraphic letter shape of ancient Greek letter Upsilon.
Latin capital letter V in the style of the Roman Capitalis monumentalis, using the font Trajan Pro
Latin capital letter W in the style of the Roman Capitalis monumentalis, using the font Trajan Pro
This cursive 'w' was popular in calligraphy of the eighteenth century; a late appearance in a font of c. 1816.
A letter W appearing in the coat of arms of Vyborg