V

See also: v, ٧, and Appendix:Variations of "v"

V	U+0056, V LATIN CAPITAL LETTER V

← U
[U+0055]

Basic Latin

W →
[U+0057]

Character variations

Ⅴ	U+2164, Ⅴ ROMAN NUMERAL FIVE

← Ⅳ
[U+2163]

Number Forms

Ⅵ →
[U+2165]

Ｖ	U+FF36, Ｖ FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER V

← Ｕ
[U+FF35]

Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms

Ｗ →
[U+FF37]

𝖁	U+1D581, 𝖁 MATHEMATICAL BOLD FRAKTUR CAPITAL V

← 𝖀
[U+1D580]

Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols

𝖂 →
[U+1D582]

Languages (37)

Translingual • English

Afrikaans • Azerbaijani • Basque • Central Franconian • Chinese • Dutch • Esperanto • Finnish • French • German • Hungarian • Icelandic • Ido • Irish • Italian • Japanese • Khoekhoe • Latin • Latvian • Malay • Mandarin • Norwegian • Nupe • Portuguese • Romani • Romanian • Russian • Skolt Sami • Slovene • Spanish • Swedish • Tagalog • Turkish • Vietnamese • Zulu

Page categories

Translingual

English Wikipedia has an article on:

V

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

v (numeral)
V. (numeral, ordinal number)

Etymology

From the Etruscan letter 𐌖 (u, “u”), from the Ancient Greek letter Υ (U, “ypsilon”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤅 (w, “waw”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓏲. Doublet of Y and U.

Letter

V (lower case v)

The twenty-second letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

Numeral

V

The Roman numeral for 5.
(especially in the names of aristocracy) the fifth.

Symbol

V

The volt in the International System of Units.
(chemistry) Symbol for vanadium.
(biochemistry) IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation for valine
(organic chemistry) The resin identification code for polyvinyl chloride, also PVC.
(geometry) volume
(set theory) Von Neumann universe
(music) major dominant triad
(linguistics) A wildcard for a vowel
(Voice Quality Symbols) voice (modified for the kind of voice: 'nasal voice', 'harsh voice', etc.)

Gallery

Letter styles
Uppercase and lowercase versions of V, in roman and italic type
Uppercase and lowercase V in Fraktur

English

Pronunciation

(name of letter) IPA^(key): /viː/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -iː

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v, plural Vs or V's)

The twenty-second letter of the English alphabet, called vee and written in the Latin script.

Derived terms

Noun

V (plural Vs or V's)

(grammar) Abbreviation of vocative case.
(linguistics) Abbreviation of verb.
(euphemistic) Vagina.
Abbreviation of vowel.
Abbreviation of velocity.
(slang, countable) Viagra.
- 2017, James Wharton, Something for the Weekend‎^[1], Biteback Publishing, →ISBN:
  The unfortunate, and quite ironic, side effect of all these chemicals is a penis that refuses to budge. Steven has been handing out the Vs in abundance for as the long as boys have been high in his second-floor flat, two for a fiver.
Anything shaped like a V; synonym: vee.
- 2022, Maddie Mortimer, Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies, Picador, page 149:
  She watched him through the perfect V between the seats for the rest of the journey.
1. A flying skein of geese which have placed themselves in a V-shaped formation.

Derived terms

(velocity):

Preposition

V

(stenoscript) Abbreviation of over, prefix over-.

Symbol

V

(titular) Viscount
(titular) Viscountess

References

The New Penguin Dictionary of Abbreviations: from A to zz, Rosalind Fergusson. (Penguin Books, 2000), page 390/1

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /fɪə/

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

The twenty-second letter of the Afrikaans alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

V (plural V's, diminutive V'tjie)

V

Azerbaijani

Letter

V upper case (lower case v)

The thirtieth letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Basque

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ube/, [u.β̞e̞]

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

The twenty-third letter of the Basque alphabet, called uve and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

Used chiefly in recent loanwords and foreign proper nouns.

Central Franconian

Etymology

/v/ is from West Germanic stem-internal *b and *f; from stem-initial *f around Aachen and in the Netherlands.
For the origen of /f/, see F. For the origen of /ʋ/, see W.

Pronunciation

/v/, (German-based also) /f/, /ʋ/

Letter

V

A letter in the German-based alphabet of Central Franconian.
A letter in the Dutch-based alphabet of Central Franconian.

Usage notes

Systems for the use of V

In the German-based spelling of Moselle Franconian, v is used instead of regular w or f only after the German cognate.
In the German-based spelling of Ripuarian (without Aachen region), initial v is used as above, but internal v is the regular spelling for /v/.
In Aachen and the Netherlands there is a threefold phonemic distinction between w /ʋ/, v /v/, f /f/, which the spelling reflects.

Doubling of V and use in the syllable coda

In the German-based spelling, v is doubled after short vowels except in certain function words and when the letter is followed by another consonant within the word stem. In the syllable coda, the choice between v and f may be based on internal analogy, but more often follows the German cognate.
In the Dutch-based spelling, v is doubled after short vowels. Coda v is automatically replaced with f.

Chinese

Etymology 1

From English volt.

Pronunciation

Cantonese (Jyutping): wuk¹
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁸voq

Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: wuk¹
  - Yale: wūk
  - Cantonese Pinyin: wuk⁷
  - Guangdong Romanization: wug¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /wʊk̚⁵/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁸voq
  - MiniDict: voh^入
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ⁵voq
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /voʔ¹²/

Classifier

V

(Hong Kong Cantonese, electricity) volt (unit of voltage)
Synonyms: 伏, 伏特 (fútè)

Etymology 2

From Japanese VTuber (bui-chūbā) or English VTuber.

Pronunciation

Cantonese (Jyutping): wi¹
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶vi

Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: wi¹
  - Yale: wī
  - Cantonese Pinyin: wi¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: wi¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /wiː⁵⁵/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁶vi
  - MiniDict: vi^去
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³vi
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /vi²³/

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!
Particularly: “Mandarin”

Noun

V

(fandom slang) virtual YouTuber; VTuber

Derived terms

港V
臺V / 台V

Etymology 3

From 微 (wēi), short for 微信 (Wēixìn, “WeChat”).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): wēi (wei¹)

(Zhuyin): ㄨㄟ
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶vi

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wēi
  - Zhuyin: ㄨㄟ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: wei
  - Wade–Giles: wei¹
  - Yale: wēi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: uei
  - Palladius: вэй (vɛj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /weɪ̯⁵⁵/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁶vi
  - MiniDict: vi^去
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³vi
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /vi²³/

Verb

V

(Internet slang) to send (money) over WeChat
V我50 ― wēi wǒ 50 ― send me 50 yuan over WeChat

Etymology 4

Pronunciation 1

Mandarin
(Pinyin): wēi (wei¹)

(Zhuyin): ㄨㄟ
Cantonese (Jyutping): wi¹ / fi¹
Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): bhui⁵
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶vi; ¹vi

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wēi
  - Zhuyin: ㄨㄟ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: wei
  - Wade–Giles: wei¹
  - Yale: wēi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: uei
  - Palladius: вэй (vɛj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /weɪ̯⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: wi¹ / fi¹
  - Yale: wī / fī
  - Cantonese Pinyin: wi¹ / fi¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: wi¹ / fi¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /wiː⁵⁵/, /fiː⁵⁵/

Note: fi1 - Hong Kong only.

Southern Min
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: bhui⁵
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: bûi
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /bui⁵⁵/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁶vi; ¹vi
  - MiniDict: vi^去; vi^平
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³vi; ¹vi
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /vi²³/, /vi⁵³/

Letter

V

The twenty-second letter of the Latin alphabet.

Pronunciation 2

Mandarin
(Pinyin): wēi, vê̄, wē (wei¹, vê¹, we¹)

(Zhuyin): ㄨㄟ, ㄪㄝ, ㄨㄝ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, common)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wēi
  - Zhuyin: ㄨㄟ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: wei
  - Wade–Giles: wei¹
  - Yale: wēi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: uei
  - Palladius: вэй (vɛj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /weɪ̯⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese, official)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: vê̄
  - Zhuyin: ㄪㄝ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: vê
  - Wade–Giles: veh¹
  - Yale: vē
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: vè
  - Palladius: вэй (vɛj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /vɛ⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese, variant official)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wē
  - Zhuyin: ㄨㄝ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: we
  - Wade–Giles: weh¹
  - Yale: wē
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ue
  - Palladius: вэ (vɛ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɛ⁵⁵/

Letter

V

The twenty-second letter used in Pinyin.

Usage notes

《汉语拼音方案》 defines a standard pronunciation for each letter. However, these pronunciations are rarely used in education, and another pronunciation is commonly used instead. In the case of V, 《汉语拼音方案》 defines its pronunciation as ㄪㄝ, using the initial ㄪ (vō /⁠v⁠/), which is obsolete in standard Mandarin. This is one of the only instances of the letter being used in standard Pinyin.

Dutch

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /veː/
Audio: (file)

Letter

V (capital, lowercase v)

the twenty-second letter of the Dutch alphabet

Esperanto

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /vo/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /v/
Audio: (file)

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

The twenty-seventh letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called vo and written in the Latin script.

Finnish

Etymology

The Finnish orthography using the Latin script was based on those of Swedish, German and Latin, and was first used in the mid-16th century. No earlier script is known. See the Wikipedia article on Finnish for more information, and V for information on the development of the glyph itself. The letter was only rarely used prior to the 19th century, when it replaced W.

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

The twenty-second letter of the Finnish alphabet, called vee and written in the Latin script.

Derived terms

compounds

French

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

The twenty-second letter of the French alphabet, written in the Latin script.

German

Etymology

For the origen of the letter, see v.

Orthography and pronunciation

Germanic f was pronounced [v] in some dialects of Middle High German and was predominantly spelt v. This voicing was later reversed stem-initially in most dialects and stem-internally in some (including Standard German). In inherited words, the spelling mostly switched back to f accordingly. This always happened before l, r, u, ü, but otherwise there remains a number of relicts. These are the prefix ver-, the words Frevel, Vater, Vetter, Vieh, viel, vier, Vogel, Volk, voll, von, vor, and their derivatives.

In native German proper nouns, initial V is always /f/, but the internal pronunciation is hard to predict and differs by region. For example, it is usually /f/ in northern German placenames (e.g. Hannover, Havel, Jever), but /v/ in western ones (e.g. Grevenbroich, Leverkusen, Overath).

V was retained in words of foreign origen and its pronunciation varied. The contemporary standard is normally /v/, but always /f/ in Eva, Vau, Veilchen, Veit, Vettel, Vlies, Vogt. The words Vers, Vesper, Vize have /f/ in Germany, but usually /v/ in Austria. Both ways are de-facto standard in Evangelium, hieven, Larve, Nerven, Pulver (though dictionaries may recognise only one form or the other).

Pronunciation

(letter name) IPA^(key): /faʊ̯/
- Rhymes: -aʊ̯
- Audio: (file)
(phoneme) IPA^(key): /f/, /v/ (see etymology section)

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

The twenty-second letter of the German alphabet, called Vau and written in the Latin script.

Hungarian

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): [ˈv]
(letter name): IPA^(key): [ˈveː]

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

The thirty-eighth letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called vé and written in the Latin script.

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	V	V-k
accusative	V-t	V-ket
dative	V-nek	V-knek
instrumental	V-vel	V-kkel
causal-final	V-ért	V-kért
translative	V-vé	V-kké
terminative	V-ig	V-kig
essive-formal	V-ként	V-kként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	V-ben	V-kben
superessive	V-n	V-ken
adessive	V-nél	V-knél
illative	V-be	V-kbe
sublative	V-re	V-kre
allative	V-hez	V-khez
elative	V-ből	V-kből
delative	V-ről	V-kről
ablative	V-től	V-ktől
non-attributive possessive - singular	V-é	V-ké
non-attributive possessive - plural	V-éi	V-kéi

Possessive forms of V
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	V-m	V-im
2nd person sing.	V-d	V-id
3rd person sing.	V-je	V-i
1st person plural	V-nk	V-ink
2nd person plural	V-tek	V-itek
3rd person plural	V-jük	V-ik

Icelandic

Letter

V (lower case v)

The twenty-sixth letter of the Icelandic alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Ido

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /v/

Letter

V (lower case v)

The twenty-second letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Irish

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

The nineteenth letter of the Irish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Derived terms

Italian

Italian Wikipedia has an article on:

V

Wikipedia ^it

Pronunciation

(letter name) IPA^(key): ^**/ˈvi/^*, (traditional) ^**/ˈvu/^*^[1]
- Rhymes: -i, (traditional) -u
- Homophone: vi
(phonemic realization) IPA^(key): /v/

Letter

V f or m (invariable, upper case, lower case v)

The twentieth letter of the Italian alphabet, called vu or vi and written in the Latin script.

References

^ V in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Japanese

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

V

Wikipedia ^ja

Khoekhoe

Letter

V (lower case v)

(obsolete, Tindall orthography) A letter of the Khoekhoe alphabet; modern ǂ.

Latin

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

A letter in the Latin alphabet, representing the consonant /w/ (later /v/) and the vowels /u/ and /uː/

Usage notes

Historical Latin texts did not distinguish the consonantal and vocalic readings of this letter orthographically. In modern texts and editions of older texts, the vowels are typically written ⟨U⟩ and ⟨Ū⟩ rather than with ⟨V⟩.

Latvian

Latvian Wikipedia has an article on:

V

Wikipedia ^lv

Etymology

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [v]

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

The thirty-first letter of the Latvian alphabet, called vē and written in the Latin script.

Malay

Malay Wikipedia has an article on:

V

Wikipedia ^ms

Pronunciation

(Name of letter) IPA^(key): [vi]
(Phoneme, Syllable initial) IPA^(key): [v]
(Phoneme, Syllable final) IPA^(key): [f]

Letter

V

The twenty-second letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Mandarin

Romanization

V

Nonstandard spelling of Ü.

Usage notes

In Hanyu Pinyin, the letter v is unused, except for the official pronunciation of the letter V. However, the ease of typing into a computer means that it is sometimes used in place of Ü.

Norwegian

Letter

V (upper case V, lower case v)

the 22th letter of the Norwegian alphabet

Usage notes

In older texts may be replaced by w, u, fu, ffv, fw, ff or fv.

Nupe

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /v/

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

The twenty-sixth letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Portuguese

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

The twenty-second letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Romani

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /v/

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

(International Standard) The twenty-ninth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.
(Pan-Vlax) The thirtieth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Romanian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /v/

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

The twenty-seventh letter of the Romanian alphabet, called ve or vî and written in the Latin script.

Russian

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Z (military symbol)

Wikipedia

Etymology

Sense 2 was derived from восток (vostok, “east, eastern Ukraine”). Like the Z sign, the V sign was initially used for vehicles targeted towards Kyiv, and later popularised by the Russian government on social media as a rallying symbol.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [vɛ]

Symbol

V (lower case v)

the Roman letter V, v
Synonym: вэ (vɛ)
(The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:) (politics) a dogwhistle for supporting the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- #силаVправде (hashtag using V by Russian nationalists in support for war against Ukraine)
  #silaVpravde
  "our strength is in truth"
- ZOV (a symbol combining Z and O, more symbols used on Russian tanks, used by the Russian government and some online users in support for war against Ukraine)
  ZOV (may also be interpreted as зов, or "call forth [to war]")

Usage notes

Russian nationalists replace instances of the Cyrillic letter В (V) with Roman V in some words and usernames.

Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /v/

Letter

V (lower case v)

The thirty-second letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Slovene

Slovene Wikipedia has an article on:

V

Wikipedia ^sl

Letter

V (capital, lowercase v)

The twenty-third letter of the Slovene alphabet, written in the Latin script.
The thirty-first letter of the Slovene alphabet (Resian), written in the Latin script.
The twenty-fourth letter of the Slovene alphabet (Natisone Valley dialect), written in the Latin script.

Spanish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈube/ [ˈu.β̞e]
Rhymes: -ube

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

the 23rd letter of the Spanish alphabet

Swedish

Alternative forms

ve (spelled out)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin V. First attested in 1602.^[1]

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

the 22nd letter of the Swedish alphabet
1. (historical) the 21st letter of the Swedish alphabet (when I and J was not viewed as separate letters)
2. (historical) the 20th letter of the Swedish alphabet (when U and V was not viewed as separate letters)

Usage notes

The letter W is sometimes seen as an alternative form of V and not a separate letter.
- In some situations, such as in URLs, the pronunciation of the separate letter W is identical to that of V.
- Since 2006 the letter W has been categorised as a separate letter by the dictionary Svenska Akademins Ordlista (SAOL). Before that, it was viewed as a variant of the letter V and sorted thereunder.^[2]

Proper noun

V ? (genitive V:s)

Abbreviation of Vänsterpartiet (“Left Party”).

References

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish V. Each pronunciation has a different source:

Filipino alphabet pronunciation is influenced by English V.
Abecedario pronunciation is from Spanish V.

Pronunciation

(Standard Tagalog)
- IPA^(key): /ˈvi/ [ˈvi] (letter name, Filipino alphabet)
  - IPA^(key): (more native-sounding) /ˈbi/ [ˈbi] (letter name, Filipino alphabet)
  - Rhymes: -i
- IPA^(key): /ˈve/ [ˈvɛ] (letter name, Abecedario)
  - IPA^(key): (more native-sounding) /ˈbe/ [ˈbɛ] (letter name, Abecedario)
  - Rhymes: -e
- IPA^(key): /v/ [v] (phoneme)
  - IPA^(key): (more native-sounding) /b/ [b̚] (phoneme)

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v, Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒ)

The twenty-fourth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Filipino alphabet), called vi and written in the Latin script.
(historical) The twenty-fifth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Abecedario), called ve and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

This letter is mostly used only in proper nouns, unadapted loanwords, or Spanish-based spellings.
Some purists of Tagalog replace V in words with B.

Turkish

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

The twenty-seventh letter of the Turkish alphabet, called ve and written in the Latin script.

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ve˧˧], [vəː˨˩]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [vej˧˧], [vəː˦˩]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [vej˧˧] ~ [jej˧˧], [vəː˨˩] ~ [jəː˨˩]
Phonetic spelling: vê, vờ

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

The twenty-seventh letter of the Vietnamese alphabet, called vê or vờ and written in the Latin script.

Zulu

Letter

V (upper case, lower case v)

The twenty-second letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.