waw

W4A1W4
/wɔː//wɑːw//waʊ/

verb

To stir; move; wave.

OriginMiddle English wawen ← Old English wagian ← Proto-West Germanic *wagōn →
UncommonScrabble 9
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Meanings

waw1

verbwaw (third-person singular simple present waws, present participle wawing, simple past and past participle wawed)

present singular third person waws · participle present wawing · participle past wawed · past wawed

  1. obsoletetransitiveTo stir; move; wave.

waw2

nounwaw (plural waws)

plural waws · alternative wawe

  1. obsoleteA wave.

    […] nigh it drawes All passengers, that none from it can shift: For whiles they fly that Gulfes deuouring iawes, They on this rock are rent, and sunck in helplesse wawes.

    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

waw3

nounwaw (plural waws)

plural waws · alternative wo · alternative waugh

  1. Northern EnglandScotlanddialectalA wall.

    T'ootside waws was whitewesh't.

    1886, Thomas Farrall, Betty Wilson's Cummerland Teals, section 41
    1 more example

    She hath been at London to call a strea a straw, and a waw a wall.

    1678, John Ray, A Collection of English Proverbs, section 75

waw4

nounwaw (plural waws)

plural waws

  1. The twenty-seventh letter of the Arabic alphabet: و.
  2. alternativeAlternative spelling of vav.

    Rather, the waws of both fragments are demonstrably similar. What Cryer and Becking fail to note is that the style of waw used in Fragment B is also used in Fragment A.

    2006, George Athas, The Tel Dan Inscription: A Reappraisal and a New Introduction, page 147

WAW5

nounWAW (uncountable)
  1. abbreviationinitialismuncountablecomputingInitialism of write after write, a kind of data hazard.
  2. abbreviationinitialismuncountableliteratureInitialism of writing about writing.

Origin

waw · verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*weǵʰ-“to drag, carry”
  2. Proto-Germanic*wagōną“to move”
  3. Proto-West Germanic*wagōn
  4. Old Englishwagian“to move, shake, swing, totter”
  5. Middle Englishwawen
  6. Englishwaw

From Middle English wawen, waȝien, from Old English wagian (“to move, shake, swing, totter”), from Proto-West Germanic *wagōn, from Proto-Germanic *wagōną (“to move”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to drag, carry”). Cognate with German wagen (“to venture, dare, risk”), Dutch wagen (“to venture, dare, also to move, stir”), Swedish våga (“to dare”).

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waw · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*weǵʰ-“to drag, carry”
  2. Proto-Germanic*wēgaz“wave, storm”
  3. Proto-West Germanic*wāg
  4. Old Englishwǣg“motion, water, wave, billow, flood, sea”
  5. Middle Englishwawe
  6. Englishwaw

From Middle English wawe, waȝe, waghe, from Old English wǣg (“motion, water, wave, billow, flood, sea”), from Proto-West Germanic *wāg, from Proto-Germanic *wēgaz (“wave, storm”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to drag, carry”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian waag (“wave”), West Frisian weach (“wave”), Dutch waag (“wave”), German Woge, Wooge (“wave”), Danish vove, våg (“wave”), Faroese vágur (“bay”), Icelandic vogur (“bay”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish våg (“wave”), Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌲𐍃 (wēgs, “wave”), French vague (“wave”) (from Old Norse vágr (“ocean, sea; wave”)). See also wave.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

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waw · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*weyk-“to bend, twist”
  2. Proto-Germanic*waigaz“wall”
  3. Proto-West Germanic*waig
  4. Old Englishwāh
  5. Middle Englishwawe
  6. Englishwaw

From Middle English wawe, wowe, waugh, wough, from Old English wāh, wāg (“a wall, partition”), from Proto-West Germanic *waig, from Proto-Germanic *waigaz (“wall”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to bend, twist”). Cognate with Scots wauch, vauch, Saterland Frisian Wooge (“indoor wall, partition”).

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waw · noun

  1. Arabicوَاو
  2. Englishwaw

From Arabic وَاو (wāw). Doublet of wau.

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Translations

Arabic وَاو
  • وَاو (wāw)Arabic letter
Finnish vav
  • vavArabic letter
French waw
  • wawArabic letter
Hebrew וי״ו
  • וי״ו (vav)Arabic letter
Hindi वाव
  • वाव (vāv)Arabic letter
Italian vau
  • vauArabic letter
Malay wau
  • wauArabic letter
Persian واو
  • واو (vâw)Arabic letter
Russian вав
  • вав (vav)Arabic letter
Turkish vav
  • vavArabic letter
Urdu وَاو
  • وَاو (vāv)Arabic letter

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with waw

lawsawrawdrawshawawwithdrawMcGrawstrawwarsawwofauxjawthoughtfultauflawawepawclawthorLimbaughwaughhawthaw
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

war (non-rhotic)war (non-rhotic dialects)war

Anagrams

aww
Cite this entry
APA

waw. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waw

MLA

“waw.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waw. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “waw,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waw.

Source: waw on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.