wynn
/wɪn/
wynn
English
Noun Top 20,095
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Definition
A letter of the Old English alphabet, ƿ, borrowed from the futhark and used to represent the sound of w; replaced in Middle English times by the digraph uu, which later developed into the letter w.
Etymology
From Middle English wynne, winne, wenne, wunne, wyn, from Old English wynn (“joy, pleasure”) (runes were named using words beginning with their sound), from Proto-West Germanic *wunnju, from Proto-Germanic *wunjō, from Proto-Indo-European *wn̥h₁yeh₂, from *wenh₁- (“desire, wish, love”).
Example Sentences
- "The Norman scribes gradually replaced wynn by u, uu, vv, and w itself."
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