W

W - Other Definitions

• () 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.
  
  
• (n.) A pledge; a pawn.
  
  
• () of Wed
  
  
• (n.) To take for husband or for wife by a formal ceremony; to marry; to espouse.
  
  
• (n.) To join in marriage; to give in wedlock.
  
  
• (n.) Fig.: To unite as if by the affections or the bond of marriage; to attach firmly or indissolubly.
  
  
• (n.) To take to one's self and support; to espouse.
  
  
• (v. i.) To contact matrimony; to marry.