Vav
/vɑːv/noun
The sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, ו, representing a consonant usually transliterated as v and sometimes functioning as a vowel marker.
Did you know?Vav is descended from the ancient Semitic waw, whose symbol was associated with a hook; through Greek and Latin adaptations, it contributed to the ancestry of V, U, and W.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Sinaitic, 2nd millennium BCE
Early Semitic
*waw
“Reconstructed name meaning “hook” or “peg,” associated with the letter’s early pictographic form.”
c. 1050 BCE
Phoenician
𐤅 waw
“A consonant pronounced approximately /w/, represented by a sign traditionally interpreted as a hook.”
Ancient Hebrew
Hebrew
וָו wāw
“The name of the sixth Hebrew letter, originally pronounced approximately /w/.”
8th–5th century BCE
Greek
ϝ δίγαμμα digamma
“The Greek letter digamma, adapted from waw to represent /w/; it later fell out of ordinary Greek use.”
7th–1st century BCE
Latin
V
“Latin adapted the related Phoenician-derived letter for /w/ and later /u/ and /v/ sounds.”
Modern English
English
vav
“An English scholarly and religious term borrowed from Hebrew for the letter ו, commonly pronounced /vɑːv/.”