Have you ever wondered if there are any native Spanish words that start with W? The “uve doble” letter is familiar to English speakers and a part of everyday vocabulary.
However, its appearance in the Spanish alphabet is somewhat limited to loan (foreign) words. There aren’t many Spanish words that start with W today — and as you’ll see, most, if not all, of them are Anglicisms (with a few Germanisms here and there).
Spanish Words That Start With W
The letter W isn’t native to Spanish or Latin (from which Spanish came to be), so even its sound isn’t the same in all words. Sometimes, native Spanish speakers may add the letter G at the beginning of English-derived words.
Similarly, with words of Germanic origin (and some English ones too), it’s common to pronounce the letter W at the beginning as B or V.
| SPANISH WORDS THAT START WITH W | TRANSLATION/MEANING |
| wachar | to look at |
| wachimán | watchman |
| wafer | thin slice of semiconductor; thin, light crisp biscuit |
| waffle | waffle |
| waflera | waffle maker |
| wagneriano | Wagnerian |
| wagon-lit | sleeping car on a railway |
| Wahabismo, wahabí, wahabita | Wahhabism, or connected to Wahhabism |
| Walhalla | Walhalla |
| walkie-talkie | walkie-talkie |
| Walkman | Walkman |
| walkover | forfeit |
| wallaby | wallaby (small or middle-sized macropod) |
| walquiria (or walkiria) | Valkyrie |
| wamba | sneaker, plimsoll; king Wamba |
| wapití | elk |
| warning | warning (caution or advance notice) |
| warrant | a certificate for acquiring a certain number of shares at a fixed price and period |
| wasabi | wasabi |
| wasp | WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) |
| waterpolista | water polo player |
| waterpolo | water polo |
| watio (also watt) | watt (can also be spelled like this) |
| wau | A variant of the letter “u”; can be a sound, semiconsonant or semivocal |
| WC (also water-closet) | toilet |
| web | web (Internet) |
| Web 2.0 | Web 2.0 |
| webcam | webcam |
| weber | weber (unit) |
| weblog | web blog (full form of the term) |
| webmaster | webmaster |
| webquest | web request |
| website | website |
| wedge | wedge |
| week-end | weekend |
| weimarés | Weimarian |
| Wellington | rain boots, in particular, those by brand Wellington |
| wellingtonia | Wellingtonia (giant redwood) |
| welwitschia | Welwitschia (type of plant) |
| wengué | Wenge (Millettia laurentii) |
| wepa | Cool, awesome, oh yeah |
| westfaliano | Westphalian |
| whiskería (also wiskería) | a whisky bar or a night bar where the waitresses dress provocatively and chat up the patrons |
| whisky (also wiski) | whisky |
| whisky de malta | malt whisky |
| whisky escocés | Scotch whisky |
| widget | widget |
| wifi | Wi-Fi |
| Wikcionario | Wiktionary |
| wiki | wiki (a website or database where any user can add or edit content) |
| Wikipedia | Wikipedia |
| wikén | weekend |
| wincha | hairband |
| windsurf | windsurfing |
| windsurfista | windsurfer |
| wireless | wireless |
| wok | wok (a type of Chinese frying pan) |
| wolof | Wolof (language of Mauritania, Gambia, and Senegal); also, Wolof people |
| won | South Korean won (currency) |
| wonderbra | underwired padded bra, trademark by brand Wonderbra |
| woofer | woofer |
| workaholic | workaholic |
| workshop | workshop |
| worm | worm |
| wrap | wrap |
| wrestling | wrestling |
| WWW | WWW |
| WYSIWYG | WYSIWYG |
| wáter (also water and váter) | toilet |
| wélter | welterweight |
| wéstern | Western (movie genre) |
| wólfram (also wolframio) | tungsten |
Honorable Mentions
Native Spanish speakers have a tendency to use their own variants of personal names. For instance, Prince William would be Guillermo in Spain, and his father would be Carlos.
However, some names cannot be transformed like that, so Woody Allen and any Walter or Willy are likely to keep their names, giving native speakers another chance to use the letter W at the beginning.
Other words that start with “uve doble” in Spanish include:
- Places like Wyoming, Wisconsin, Washington, Winnipeg, Windsor, Wuhan, Wolfsburg, and Winchester
- Bodies of water like the river Waal
- Metonyms like Wall Street.
Names of apps, software, systems, and similar. Popular web-related Spanish words that start with W include WAP, WhatsApp (or wasap), and the famous Windows.
