Word.ws English Dictionary

double-u

Syllables: dou·ble-u/ˈdʌb.(ə)l.juː/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

colloquial/ˈdʌb.ə.juː/

double-u noun: the name of the Latin script letter W/w. Also the alternative name of the Latin-script digraph.

Noun (1)

double-u (plural double-ues or double-u's)

  1. The name of the Latin script letter W/w.
  2. (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

Noun (2) capitalized: Double-u

Double-u (plural Double-ues)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of double-u.

Also used as

double-u is also the alternative name of the Latin-script digraph.

double-u meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and Tagalog

double-u in Hindi

the name of the Latin-script letter W/w
डब्ल्यू ḍablyū

double-u in Marathi

the name of the Latin-script letter W/w
डबल-यू ḍabal-yū

double-u in Bengali

the name of the Latin-script letter W/w
ডব্লিউ ḍobliu

double-u in Tagalog

the name of the Latin-script letter W/w
dobolyu
More languagesFewer languages
double-u in Arabic
دَابِلْيُو dabelyū, دَابْلِيُو dabliyū, دوبلڤه, دُوبِلِڥِه dubleveh
double-u in Malay
dabliu, dabel yu
double-u in Indonesian
we
double-u in Thai
ดับเบิลยู dàp-bə̂n-yuu, ดับบลิว dàp-bliu
double-u in Myanmar
ဒဗ္ဗလျူ dabba.lyu

Forms of double-u

pluraldouble-ues
pluraldouble-u's
alternative formdouble U
alternative formdouble-U
alternative formdouble you
alternative formdouble-you
alternative formdoubleyou
pluralDouble-ues

Origin of double-u

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.

Words formed from double-u

Questions about double-u

What does double-u mean?
Double-u means the name of the Latin script letter W/w.
What is double-u in Hindi?
Double-u in Hindi is डब्ल्यू (ḍablyū). See Double-u meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is double-u?
Double-u is a noun.
How do you pronounce double-u?
Double-u is pronounced /ˈdʌb.(ə)l.juː/.
What is the plural of double-u?
The plural of double-u is double-ues.

Words near double-u in the dictionary

  1. double-track
  2. double-tracking
  3. double-tree
  4. double-trees
  5. double-trouble
  6. double-u
  7. double-u's
  8. double-ues
  9. double-uncle
  10. double-uncles
  11. double-vaccinated

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: double-u (page history and authors); Double-u (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-double-u.oga.

Cite this entry: “double-u.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/double-u. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.