wye

W4Y4E1
/ˈwaɪ//waɪ/

noun

The name of the Latin script letter Y/y.

“By going around the wye, a train can change direction.”

Similar
Less commonScrabble 9

Meanings

wye1

nounwye (plural wyes)

plural wyes · alternative why · alternative wy

  1. The name of the Latin script letter Y/y.

    Thus first C checks to see if ex and wye are equal. The resulting value of 1 or 0 (true or false) then is compared to the value of zee.

    1984 Waite, Prata & Martin, C (Computer Program Language), p. 190
    1 more example

    It said, in a whispering, buzzing voice, "Gee-you-ess-ess-ay-dash-em-ee-ar-ar-wye-dash-em-eye-en-gee-oh-dash-pee-eye-pee-dash-pee-ee-ar-ar-wye-dash-pee-eye-en-gee-oh."

    2004, Will Rogers, The Stonking Steps, page 170
  2. A Y-shaped object: a wye level, wye-connected. Especially a Y-shaped connection of three sections of road or railroad track.

    By going around the wye, a train can change direction.

    1 more example

    A wye is used to split a single line [hose or cable] into two lines.

verbwye (third-person singular simple present wyes, present participle wying or wyeing, simple past and past participle wyed)

present singular third person wyes · participle present wying · participle present wyeing · participle past wyed · past wyed · alternative why · alternative wy

  1. transitiveTo make something into a wye (letter Y) shape.

    When a hose line is divided into two or more lines, these lines are known as wyed lines.

  2. transitiverail transportTo reverse the direction of a train using a wye.

    Since the train didn't have a control cab at the other end, they wyed the train to turn it around for the trip back to the city.

    1 more example

    Committee contend that when these trains are wyed at Springfield, the road passenger crews are performing yard work at that point to eliminate switching by yard crews.

Wye2

proper noun
  1. A river in Wales and England, including Powys, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire, the fifth-longest in the UK.
  2. A river in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England, which flows into the River Derwent.
  3. A river in Buckinghamshire, England, which joins the Thames at Bourne End.
  4. A village in Wye with Hinxhill parish, Ashford borough, Kent, England (OS grid ref TR0546).

Synonyms & antonyms

nounthe 25th letter of the Roman alphabet

Similar
Broader
letterletter of the alphabetalphabetic character

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

wye · noun, verb

Attested as wi c. 1200. Of uncertain origin. Perhaps borrowed from Old French ui or gui.

Full word history & related roots →

Wye · proper noun

  1. Old Englishwæg“wave”
  2. Brythonic
  3. EnglishWye

From Brythonic; compare Welsh Gwy. Lye and Bosworth instead suggest Old English wæg (“wave”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic إِي يُونَانِيَّة, وَايْ
  • إِي يُونَانِيَّة (ʔī yūnāniyya)name of the letter Y, y
  • وَايْ (wāy)name of the letter Y, y
Basque larriz
  • larrizname of the letter Y, y
Bengali ওয়াই
  • ওয়াই (ōẇai)name of the letter Y, y
Bulgarian и́грек, Уай
  • и́грек (ígrek)name of the letter Y, y
  • Уай (Uaj)the river
Catalan i grega
  • i greganame of the letter Y, y
Czech ypsilon
  • ypsilonname of the letter Y, y
Dutch Griekse ij, i-grec
  • Griekse ijname of the letter Y, y
  • i-grecname of the letter Y, y
  • ypsilonname of the letter Y, y
Esperanto ipsilono
  • ipsilononame of the letter Y, y
Finnish yy
  • yyname of the letter Y, y
French i grec
  • i grecname of the letter Y, y
German Ypsilon, Y grec
  • Ypsilonname of the letter Y, y
  • Y grecname of the letter Y, y
Greek γουάι
  • γουάι (gouái)name of the letter Y, y
Hawaiian ieta
  • ietaname of the letter Y, y
Hindi वाई
  • वाई (vāī)name of the letter Y, y
Hungarian ipszilon
  • ipszilonname of the letter Y, y
Icelandic ypsilon
  • ypsilonname of the letter Y, y
Indonesian ye, igrek
  • yename of the letter Y, y
  • igrekname of the letter Y, y
Irish yé, an Ghwy
  • yéname of the letter Y, y
  • an Ghwythe river
Italian i greca, ipsilon
  • i grecaname of the letter Y, y
  • ipsilonname of the letter Y, y
Japanese ワイ
  • ワイ (wai)name of the letter Y, y
Korean 와이
  • 와이 (wai)name of the letter Y, y
Latin ȳ, i graeca
  • ȳname of the letter Y, y
  • i graecaname of the letter Y, y
Malay wai
  • wainame of the letter Y, y
Persian ایگرک
  • ایگرک (igrek)name of the letter Y, y
Polish igrek
  • igrekname of the letter Y, y
Portuguese ípsilon, i grego
  • ípsilonname of the letter Y, y
  • i gregoname of the letter Y, y
Romanian i grec
  • i grecname of the letter Y, y
Russian уа́й, уа́й
  • уа́й (uáj)name of the letter Y, y
  • уа́й (uáj)name of the letter Y, y
  • и́грек (ígrek)name of the letter Y, y
  • ипсило́н (ipsilón)name of the letter Y, y
Slovak ypsilon
  • ypsilonname of the letter Y, y
Spanish i griega, ye
  • i grieganame of the letter Y, y
  • yename of the letter Y, y
Thai วาย
  • วาย (waai)name of the letter Y, y
Turkish ye
  • yename of the letter Y, y
Vietnamese i dài, i-cờ-rét
  • i dàiname of the letter Y, y
  • i-cờ-rétname of the letter Y, y
Welsh y, Gwy
  • yname of the letter Y, y
  • Gwythe river

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with wye

All rhymes →

Sounds the same

yYwhy (wine–whine merger)yYwhy (wine–whine merger)Y

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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