Added 10 October 2026
double-u
/ˈdʌb.(ə)l.juː/ noun
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about double-u at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
Origin
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.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)