noun
Meaning 1
A wave.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
waw
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
-
/wɔː/
-
Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
-
rhymes with -ɔː
-
homophone: war (non-rhotic dialects)
-
homophone: war
-
/wɑːw/
-
/waʊ/
-
homophone: war (non-rhotic)
noun
Meaning 2
A wall.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Northern-England, Scotland, dialectal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
The twenty-seventh letter of the Arabic alphabet: و.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
Alternative spelling of vav.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, alternative
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
Initialism of write after write, a kind of data hazard.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable
Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
Initialism of writing about writing.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable
Topics: literature, media, publishing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 7
To stir; move; wave.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 8
the 6th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: letter, letter of the alphabet, alphabetic character
History
Etymology
From Middle English wawe, waȝe, waghe, from Old English wǣg (“motion, water, wave, billow, flood, sea”), from Proto-West Germanic *wāg, from Proto-Germanic *wēgaz (“wave, storm”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵh- (“to drag, carry”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian waag (“wave”), West Frisian weach (“wave”), Dutch waag (“wave”), German Woge, Wooge (“wave”), Danish vove, våg (“wave”), Faroese vágur (“bay”), Icelandic vogur (“bay”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish våg (“wave”), Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌲𐍃 (wēgs, “wave”), French vague (“wave”) (from Old Norse vágr (“ocean, sea; wave”)). See also wave.
From Middle English wawe, wowe, waugh, wough, from Old English wāh, wāg (“a wall, partition”), from Proto-West Germanic *waig, from Proto-Germanic *waigaz (“wall”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to bend, twist”). Cognate with Scots wauch, vauch, Saterland Frisian Wooge (“indoor wall, partition”).
From Arabic وَاو (wāw). Doublet of wau.
From Middle English wawen, waȝien, from Old English wagian (“to move, shake, swing, totter”), from Proto-West Germanic *wagōn, from Proto-Germanic *wagōną (“to move”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵh- (“to drag, carry”). Cognate with German wagen (“to venture, dare, risk”), Dutch wagen (“to venture, dare, also to move, stir”), Swedish våga (“to dare”).
Across languages
Translations
14 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Arabic: وَاو (wāw) — Arabic letter
- Azerbaijani: vau — Arabic letter
- Finnish: vav — Arabic letter
- French: waw — Arabic letter
- Gujarati: વાવ (vāv) — Arabic letter
- Hebrew: וי״ו (vav) — Arabic letter
- Hindi: वाव (vāv) — Arabic letter
- Italian: vau — Arabic letter
- Malay: wau — Arabic letter
- Persian: واو (vâw) — Arabic letter
- Russian: вав (vav) — Arabic letter
- Tajik: вов (vov) — Arabic letter
- Turkish: vav — Arabic letter
- Urdu: وَاو (vāv) — Arabic letter