double-u

• double U, double-U
• double you, double-you, doubleyou

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.

• IPA^(key): /ˈdʌbəljuː/, /ˌdʌb.əlˈjuː/, /ˈdʌbljuː/
• (colloquial or in rapid speech) IPA^(key): /ˈdʌbəjuː/, /ˈdʌbjuː/, /ˈdʌbjə/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

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

1. The name of the Latin-script letter W/w.
2. Alternative name of the Latin-script digraph ⟨UU⟩.
3. (euphemistic) The WC; the toilet.
   • 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 234:

     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.

• dubya

• → Malay: dabel yu
• → Portuguese: dáblio / dâblio
• → Russian: дабл-ю (dabl-ju)
• → Tagalog: dobolyu

• (Latin-script letter names) letter; a, bee, cee, dee, e, ef, gee, aitch, i, jay, kay, el, em, en, o, pee, cue, ar, ess, tee, u, vee, double-u, ex, wye, zee / zed