^5^^ 
1. The twenty-third letter 
and eighteenth consonant- 
sign in the English alpha- 
bet. It haa a double value, as 
consonant and as vowel. As an 
alphabetic character it is of very 
modern date, being one of the four 
that have sprang from the Y or V 
added by the Greelts to the older 
Phenician alphabet, and one of the 
three (L', l', K ) thnt have grown ont of the Roman form 
of that character (see U). It was made (as pointed out 
under U) by doulding the 17- or K-sign (hence called double 
(T\ in order to distinguish properly the semivowel sound 
w from the spirant r and the vowel tt. It was formerly 
often printed as two V's, TF, uc It Ijegan to be used in 
the eleventh century, and gradually crowded out the spe- 
cial sign for the same sound which the Anglo-Saxon alpha- 
bet had possessed. The alphabetic sound distinctively 
represented by ic is the laljiai semivowel, which stands in 
precisely the same relation to oo (o) in which consonan- 
tal y stands to ee (e). Each of these semivowels, if not of 
precisely the same mode of production with the corre- 
sponding vowel, is at any rate only very sliszhtly different 
from it; w is virtually an oo which is abbreviated into a 
mere prefix to another vowel, a close position from which 
the oi^ans by opening reach another vowel-sound ; and a 
prolonged w is an on. On the other hand, the sendvowel 
w (liite the semivowel y) can lie only very imperfectly and 
indistinctly uttered after a vowel, and our w in that posi- 
tion la but another way of writing «; it is found only in 
the combinations aw, ew, oic, which are equivalent to aw, 
«v, ou ; and as so used it could disappear from the lan- 
guage withotit any loss, iuit rather with profit. The semi- 
vowel sounil w (including wh and qu, which is a way of 
writing kw: see under Q) is a not uncommon element of 
English utterance, being about 2^ per cent, of it (a little 
less than the spirant p). In many languages — for ex- 
ample, in all those tiiat are descended from the Latin 
— the semivowel w tends to pa-ss over into the spirant 
o-sound, and hence the spirant value of our r, which was 
the representative in Latin of the u>.soun<1. In Anglo- 
Saxon a w stocKl and was pronounce«l also 1>efore r (and 
In a few words before f) ; in such words as vrriu, wring, 
the character is retained, though the sound is lost. In 
Anglo-Saxon, also, the w was in many words pronounced 
with a preceding aspiration, the relic of an original pre- 
fixed guttural mute, and it was consistently and properly 
so written ; for examide, hxcU, white, hic^r, where. In 
modem Engli^^h the h lias ))y an odd and unaccountable 
caprice had its place in writing changed to alter the «■ 
(perhaps by analogy with the similar blunder shown in 
writing rh in Latin for the Greek aspirated r, or hr, or by 
a blind conformity with the frequent initial digraphs tfi, 
ph, »A). There is dispute among phtmctists at present 
as to the true character of this icA-sound, some maintain- 
ing that it is not a w with preceding aspiration, but a 
surd counterpart to w, standing related to it as, for ex- 
ample an/ to a r, or an « to a z. This view rests in part, 
probably, on some actual difference of utterance, but in 
part also on unfamlliarlty with the real wh ; for in England 
the aspiration is now very generally omitted, and when, 
white, etc. . are prononnced as wen, wite, etc. It admits of 
no question, however, that when, fi »r example, is related to 
/u)o.«n precisely aa wen tooo-en,tbc difference in each ease 
consisting in au aspiration prefixed re«ipectively to the 
Towel and aemivowet—juBt as, correspond ingly,Anr(which 
shows an h prefixed to the English "long u" sound, or 
yoo) ia related to A^-oo precisely aa ewe to i-fto: the A 
being here, aa everywhere else (see UX uttered through 
the same^osition of the montli-organs as the following 
sound. Ir is sometimes silent, not only aa initial liefore 
r (see aboveX but elsewhere, as in two, tnccrd, ansirer, etc. 
It is never doubled. The assimilating iiifiuence of a w 
(whether written witli w or witht/ in the combination '/«) 
in a following a-sound is very marlced, giving the a in 
many words the short sound of o (o), as in what, tquad, 
etc, or the broad sound of a (kX as in war, ^timrt, thicnrt, 
etc. 
2. As a Bymbol: (a) In chem., the symbol for 
tungsten (NL. tcolframitim). (6) [I. c] In lii/- 
drodynamics, the symbol for the component of 
the velocity parallel to the axis of Z. — 3. As an 
abbreviation : (a) of wett; (ft) of Kestcrii ; (<•) of 
WillUim; (d) of Wednestiag; (e) of If eUsh; W) 
of warden ; (g) [I. e.) of week. 
wa' (wii or wi), n. A Scotch form of waW^. 
waat, n. An obsolete form of tcor. 
waag (wiig), n. [Native Abysfnnian name.] 
Tlie grivr-t, a monkoy. 
wabber (wob'tr), ». Same as cony, 2. 
wabble', wobble (wob'I),r. ; pret. and pp. wnb- 
hled, wohhicd, ppr. irahbling, wohblinfl. [< LG. 
wabhelH, wabble, = MHG. wabelev, webelcn, bo 
in motion, fluctuate, move hither and thitlier; 
a fre<i. form, pai-allcl toMH<J. wabn-en, etc., K. 
leaver^, of the orig. verb reprPHcnteti by travel : 
see icat'ci. In part prob. a var. of *wapi'U- a vsr. 
427 
of wapper, freq. of wap'^ : see tcopi.] I. intrans. 
1. To incline to the one side and to the other 
alternately, as a wheel, top, spindle, or other 
rotating body when not properly balanced; 
move in the manner of a rotating disk when its 
plane vibrates from side to side; rock; vacil- 
late. 
To wabble . . . [a low barbarous word]. ./oAjwon, Diet. 
When . . . the top falls on to the table, . . . it falls into 
a certain oscillation, described by the expressive though 
inelegant word — wabbling. 
U. Spencer, Firat Principles, 8 170. 
It [a pendulum] should be symmetrical on each side of 
the middle plane of its vibration, or it will ivobble. 
Sir E. Beckett, Clocks and Watches, p. 42. 
Hence — 2. To vacillate, vibrate, tremble, or 
exhibit unevenness, in senses other than me- 
chanical. [Colloq.] 
Ferri . . . made use of the tremolo upon every note, to 
such an extent that his whole singing was a bad wobbling 
trill. Grove, Diet. Music, III. 509. 
H. traii.1. To cause to wabble: as, to wabble 
one's head. [Colloq.] 
wabblei, wobble (wob'l), n. [< wabblei, u.] 
A rocking, unequal motion, as of a wheel un- 
evenly hung or a top imperfectly balanced. 
The wind had raised a middling stiff wobble on the water, 
and thelxiat jumped and tumbled in avery lively manner. 
W. C. BusiieU, Jack's Courtship, xx. 
wabble" (wob'l), n. [A dial. var. of warble'^, 
w.] The larva of the emasculating bot-fly, 
Ciititcrebra cmasculator, which infests squirrels 
in the United States ; also, the injury or affec- 
tion resulting from its presence. See warble'^, 
and cut under Cutiterebra. Also worble. 
A very large percentage [of fifty chipmunks] . . . were 
infested with wabbles. 
Rep. 0/ U. S. Dept. of Agrieullure (1889), I. 215. 
wabble^t (wob'l), ». An old name of the great 
auk, Alca impennU. Josselyii, New England 
Rarities Discovered. 
wabbler (wob'ler), ». [< wabble^ + -eri.] One 
who orthat which wabbles. Specifically— (a) Same 
as dninken cutter (which see, under cutter^X (6) A boiled 
leg of mutton. [Prov. Eng.J 
wabble-saw (wob'l-sa), ». A circular saw 
hung out of true on its arbor, used to cut dove- 
tail slots, mortises, etc. E, IJ. Kiiifiht. 
wabbly, wobbly (wob'li), a. [< wabble^ +-J^.] 
Inclined to wabble; shaky; unsteady; vibrant; 
tremulous. 
Dismal sounds may express dismal emotions, and soft 
sounds soft emotions, and wabbly sounds uncertain emo- 
tions. B. Qumey, Nineteenth Century, XIII. 446. 
wabron-leaf, wabran-leaf (wa'bron-, wa'bran- 
lef ), n. [< icabron, icabran, perhaps a corrup- 
tion of waybrcad (q. v.), -1- leaf.'] The great 
plantain, I'lantago major See })JaHto!»l (with 
cut). [Scotch.] 
wabster (wab'ster), n. A Scotch form of Web- 
ster. 
Willie was a wabttcr gude. 
Could stown a clew wi' ony body. 
Bums, Willie Wastle. 
wacapou (wak'a-po), n. A leguminous tree, 
Andira Aubletii, ot French Guiana, it furnishes 
a brownish straight-grained wood, scarcely sound enough 
for architectural purposes, but suitable for many domes- 
tic uses. A similar but Inferior wood is called wacapou 
grit. 
wacchet, waccheret. Old spellings of watch, 
wa t flier. 
wacke (wak'e), H. [< G. wacke, MHG. wackc, a 
rock projecting from the surface of the ground, 
a large flint or stone ; origin unknown.] A soft 
homogeneous clay arising from the decomposi- 
tion of some form of volcanic or eruptive rock. 
It is of a greenish or brownish color. Compare 
grat/wacke. 
wacken^ (wak'n), r. An obsolete or dialectal 
form of waken. 
wacken''^ (wak'n), a. [< ME. waken, < AS. 
warin, pp. of iracan, wake: see wake^.^ If. 
Watchful. — 2. Lively; sharp; wanton. Halli- 
wcll. [Prov. Eiig.] 
0797 
wadl (wod), n. [Early mod. E. wadde ; cf. D. 
tcatte = G. teattc, wad, wadding, = OSw. wad, 
clothing, clotl), stuff, Sw. vadd, wadding, = 
Dan. vat, wadding, = Icel. "vadhr, in comp. vad- 
mdl, a woolen stuff, wadmal (see wadmal) ; akin 
to MD. waede, wacye = MLG. wade, G. watte, 
a large fishing-net, = Icel. vadhr, a fishing-net, 
and to AS. w^d, etc., clothing, weed : see wecd'^. 
Hence (< G. watte) F. ouateX^ Sp. huata) = It. 
uvata (ML. tvadda) = Russ. rata, wad, wad- 
ding. The relations of the forms are involved ; 
E. toad is perhaps in part short for tlie obs. 
wadmah] 1. A small bunch or wisp of rags, 
hay, hair, wool, or other fibrous material, used 
for stuffing, for lessening the shock of hard 
bodies against each other, or for packing. 
A wispe of rushes, or a clod of land, 
Or any wadde ot hay that *s next to hand, 
They'l steale. John 7'or/;or,Work8(1830). (Nares.) 
Know you yonder lumpe of melancholy, 
Yonder bundle of aighes, yonder wad of groanea? 
Heywood, Fair Maid of the Exchange (\\'ork8, ed. 1874, 
[II. 17). 
2. Specifically, something, as a piece of cloth, 
paper, or leather, used to hold the powder or bul- 
let, or both, in place in a gun or cartridge. For 
ordinary double- or single-barreled shot-guns, wads are 
disks of felt, leather, or pasteboard cut by machinery or 
by a hand-tool, often indented to allow passage of air in 
ramming home, and sometimes specially treated with a 
composition which helps to keep the barrels from fouling. 
See cut under shot-cartridge. 
Wads are punched out of sheets of various materials by 
cutters fixed in a press. Those most commonly used are 
made of felts, cardlxiard, or jute. 
H'. W. Greener, The Gun, p. 300. 
3. In ceram., a small piece of finer clay used to 
cover the body of an inferior material in some 
varieties of earthenware ; especially, the piece 
doubled over the edge of a vessel Junk wad. 
See I'iMii-worf.— Selvagee-wad. Same as gnmel-uad. 
Wad^ (wod), V. t. ; pret. and pp. wadded, ppr. 
wadding. [= G. watten (cf. freq. G. wattircn = 
D. watteren = Dan. vattere), wad; from the 
notm.] 1. Toform into a wad or into wadding; 
press together into a mass, as fibrous material. 
— 2. To line with wadding, as a garment, to give 
more roundness or fullness to tlie figure, keep 
out the cold, render soft, or protect in any way. 
A parcel of Superannuated Debauchees, huddled up in 
Cloaks, Frize Coats and Wadded Gowns. 
Quoted in Ashton's Social Life in Keign of Queen Anne, 
[I. 300. 
The quickest of us walk about well wadded with stupid- 
ity. George Eliot, Middlemarcll, xx. 
3. To pad; stuff; fill out with or as with wad- 
ding. 
His skin with sugar being wadded. 
With li<iuid fires his entrails burn'd. 
J. G. Cooper, tr. of Ver-Vert, iv. (an. 1759). 
4. To put a wad into, as the barrel of a gun ; 
also, to hold in place by a wad, as a bullet. 
wad^ (wod), i: A Scotch form of teed. 
wad^ (wod). A Scotch fonn of would. 
wad^ (wod), n. An obsolete or dialectal form of 
woad. 
wad'' (wod), H. [Also wadd; origin obstiire.] 
1. An impure earthy ore of manganese, \.'liich 
consists of manganese dioxid associated with 
the oxid of iron, cobalt, or copper. When mixed 
with linseed-oil for a paint it is apt to take fire. 
Also called bog-manganese, earthy manganese. — 
2. Same as plumbago. [Prov. Eng.] 
wadable (wa'da-bl), a. [< wade -t- -able.'] That 
may be waded; fordable. Volc.s; HalUweil. 
wad-cutter (wod'kuf'er), H. A device for cut- 
ting wads. There are many kinds. The sim- 
plest is a circular chisel or gouge struck with 
a hammer or mallet. 
wadd, n. See u-ad5. 
Wadder ( wod'er), ». [< n-ad'^ -)- -cr'> .] A grower 
of wad or woad. Halliwell. 
wadding (wod'ing), n. [Verbal n. of W(till c] 
1. Wads collectively; stuffing; si>eciliciilly, 
carded cotton or wool used to line or stuff 
