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W
W (?), the twenty-third letter of the English alphabet, is usually a consonant, but sometimes it is a vowel, forming the second element of certain diphthongs, as in few, how. It takes its written form and its name from the repetition of a V, this being the original form of the Roman capital letter which we call U. Etymologically it is most related to v and u. See V, and U. Some of the uneducated classes in England, especially in London, confuse w and v, substituting the one for the other, as weal for veal, and veal for weal; wine for vine, and vine for wine, etc. See Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 266-268.
The noun W has 4 senses
1. tungsten, wolfram, W, atomic_number_74 -- a heavy grey-white metallic element; the pure form is used mainly in electrical applications; it is found in several ores including wolframite and scheelite 2. watt, W -- a unit of power equal to, joule per second; the power dissipated by a current of, ampere flowing across a resistance of, ohm 3. west, due_west, westward, W -- the cardinal compass point that is a 270 degrees 4. W, letter_w, double-u -- the 23rd letter of the Roman alphabet
Tweets for "W"
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