Definition of
W
- (noun, communication) the 23rd letter of the Roman alphabet
- (noun, quantity) a unit of power equal to 1 joule per second; the power dissipated by a current of 1 ampere flowing across a resistance of 1 ohm
- (noun, linkdef) the cardinal compass point that is a 270 degrees
- (noun, substance) 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
via WordNet, Princeton University
Alternate forms of W
Hypernyms: alphabetic character, cardinal compass point, letter, letter of the alphabet, metal, metallic element, power unit
Origin of the word W
- not in the Roman alphabet, but the Mod.Eng. sound it represents is close to the devocalized consonant expressed by Roman -U- or -V-. In O.E., this originally was written -uu-, but by 8c. began to be expressed by the runic character wyn (Kentish wen), which looked something like a cross between lower-case -p- and -y-. In 11c., Nor… more
via Online Etymology Dictionary, ©2001 Douglas Harper