waw
/wɔː/noun
waw is spelled W-A-W: 3 letters. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 59,387th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, waw means “A wall” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of waw is waws.
How many letters and syllables are in waw?
| Letters | 3: W-A-W |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 59,387th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is waw?
Waw appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 59,387th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce waw?
- /wɔː/
As a noun (“The twenty-seventh letter of the Arabic alphabet: و”): /wɑːw/, /waʊ/.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-waw.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with waw
Sounds like: war (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with waw?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as waw.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: aww.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of waw
- waws present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- wawing participle, present
- wawed participle, past
- wawe
- wo
- waugh
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does waw mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
ScotlandA wall.
- 2
The twenty-seventh letter of the Arabic alphabet: و.
- 3
Alternative spelling of vav.
- 4
obsoleteA wave.
noun
- 1
Initialism of write after write, a kind of data hazard.
- 2
Initialism of writing about writing.
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo stir; move; wave.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Waw in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Arabic letter:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | waw |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does waw come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).