Dictionary

double-u en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈdʌb.jə/ (colloquial) in rapid speech
• (General-American) audio
• /ˈdʌb.juː/ (colloquial) in rapid speech
• /ˈdʌb.ə.juː/ (colloquial) in rapid speech
• /ˌdʌb.əlˈjuː/
• /ˈdʌb.(ə)l.juː/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English doble W, in reference to the letter's origins as a ligature of two Us or Vs (V originally being a typographical variant of U). The failure of the sequence /bljuː/ to simplify in this word's bisyllabic pronunciation (as in blue) is doubtlessly due to the letter U's name. For colloquial pronunciations without /l/, compare Straya.

Meanings

1. The name of the Latin script letter W/w.
2. (alt-of, alternative, name) Alternative name of the Latin-script digraph ⟨UU⟩.
   alt of the Latin-script digraph
3. (euphemistic) The WC; the toilet.
   • She would try the front door, and try the back door, and look in the windows; and once she even looked in the double-u. 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 234:

Forms

Deriveds

dubya

Descendants

dobolyu · dabiyo · dabel yu · дабл-ю · dáblio · dâblio

Translations (60)

enm doble W (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · haw wē (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · eo vu (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · de We (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · tl dobolyu (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · eo duobla vo (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · nn dobbelt-v (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · io we (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · fr double vé (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · tl wa (Abakada) (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · th ดับเบิลยู (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · nb dobbelt-v (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · es uve doble (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · cy w (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · is tvöfalt vaff (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · it vu doppia (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · fi kaksoisvee (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · es ve dupla (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · da dobbelt-v (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · pt dâblio (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · cs dvojité vé (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · ca ve doble (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · bg дубъл-ве (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · my ဒဗ္ဗလျူ (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · oc ve dobla (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · ar دَابْلِيُو (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · ar دوبلڤه (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · es doble ve (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · ms dabel yu (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · id we (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · eo vuo (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · ar دَابِلْيُو (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · ru дубль-вэ́ (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · hi डब्ल्यू (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · ja ダブリュー (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · el ντάμπλ’γιου (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · nl wee (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · ru да́бл-ю (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · th ดับบลิว (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · ko 더블유 (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · mr डबल-यू (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · ga wae (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · es u valona (disused) (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · it doppia vu (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · bn ডব্লিউ (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · pt dáblio (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · pl wu (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · ast uve doble (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · pt duplo vê (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · ko 다블유 (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · es ve doble (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · sv dubbel-v (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · es doble uve / u (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · hu dupla vé (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · eo ĝermana vo (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · akz dabiyo (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · nn dobbel-v (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · ms dabliu (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · eo vavo (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w) · ar دُوبِلِڥِه (the name of the Latin-script letter W/w)