List of acronyms: W

This list contains acronyms, initialisms, and pseudo-blends  that begin with the letter W.

For the purposes of this list:

  • acronym = an abbreviation pronounced as if it were a word, e.g., SARS = severe acute respiratory syndrome, pronounced to rhyme with cars
  • initialism = an abbreviation pronounced wholly or partly using the names of its constituent letters, e.g., CD = compact disc, pronounced cee dee
  • pseudo-blend = an abbreviation whose extra or omitted letters mean that it cannot stand as a true acronym, initialism, or portmanteau (a word formed by combining two or more words).
(a) = acronym, e.g.: SARS – (a) severe acute respiratory syndrome
(i) = initialism, e.g.: CD – (i) compact disc
(p) = pseudo-blend, e.g.: UNIFEM – (p) United Nations Development Fund for Women
(s) = symbol (none of the above, representing and pronounced as something else; for example: MHz – megahertz)

Some terms are spoken as either acronym or initialism, e.g., VoIP, pronounced both as voyp and V-O-I-P.

(Main list of acronyms)

W0–9

  • W3C – (i) World Wide Web Consortium
  • w/ – (p) With: Software w/Documentation. Typically used in advertising or to abbreviate headings. Never used in formal body text.

WA

WB

WC

WD

WE

WF

WG

WH

WI

WJ

  • WJKK WJKF – Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ke Fateh, a Sikh greeting

WK

  • WK – (s) Wake Island (ISO 3166 digram, obsolete 1986)
  • WKYP – (a) Will Keep You Posted
  • WKX – (a) World Kickboxing Xtrm

WL

WM

WN

WO

WP

WQ

  • WQS – World Qualifying series (surf)

WR

  • WR – (i) Wide receiver (gridiron football)
  • WRAC – (a) Women's Royal Army Corps (World War II UK)
  • WRAIR – (a) Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
  • WRBWWRM – (i) "We Read Best What We Read Most"
  • WRC – (i) World Rally Championship
  • WRC - World Religions Conference
  • WRNS – (i) Women's Royal Naval Service (World War II UK) (pronounced "wrens")
  • WRVS – (i) Women's Royal Voluntary Service, now only known by the acronym (UK)
  • WRS – (i) Worldwide Reference System
  • wrt or w/r/t – (i) with respect to or with regard to, depending on context
  • WRT
    • (i) Writer Response Theory
    • (i) WRT - "With respect to", especially in fields such as Mathematics.
    • (i) World Rally Team
    • (i) Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC (Urban Planning and Design)
    • (i) Wireless Ronin Technologies (digital signage)
    • (i) NHS Workforce Review Team
    • The Linksys routers whose model name start with 'WRT'
    • (i) Wholesale, Trade, Retail sector, category in employment and economics statistics
    • (i) Wireless Receiver/Transmitter ( computer networks/IT )
    • Third party firmware for the Linksys WRT routers and compatible models from other vendors.
    • (i) Web Runtime (WRT) is a portable application framework developed by Nokia that allows the creation of widgets on the S60 Platform.

WS

WT

WU

WV

WW

WX

  • WXO – (i) Weather [Executive] Officer

WY

  • WY – (s) Wyoming (postal symbol)
  • WYSIWYG – (a) What You See Is What You Get (pronounced "wizzy-wig". See entry for derived acronyms)
  • WYSIWYP – (a) What You See Is What You Print / What You See Is What You Pay ("wizzy-whip")
  • WYRFTTM – When You Are Free Talk To Me

WZ