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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

wye.

The name of the Latin script letter Y/y.

3 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈwaɪ/
  1. The name of the Latin script letter Y/y.

  2. A Y-shaped object: a wye level, wye-connected. Especially a Y-shaped connection of three sections of road or railroad track.

    A wye is used to split a single line [hose or cable] into two lines.
    By going around the wye, a train can change direction.
Where this word comes from

Attested as wi c. 1200. Of uncertain origin. Perhaps borrowed from Old French ui or gui.

verb/ˈwaɪ/
  1. To make something into a wye (letter Y) shape.

    transitive
    When a hose line is divided into two or more lines, these lines are known as wyed lines.
  2. To reverse the direction of a train using a wye.

    transitive
    Since the train didn't have a control cab at the other end, they wyed the train to turn it around for the trip back to the city.
    Committee contend that when these trains are wyed at Springfield, the road passenger crews are performing yard work at that point to eliminate switching by yard crews.
Where this word comes from

Attested as wi c. 1200. Of uncertain origin. Perhaps borrowed from Old French ui or gui.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.