vulvitis

[Lat. vulv (a); suff. -it is.] Pathol .: Inflammation of the vulva. It may be simple, follicular, or gangrenous. vul-vō-, prefix. [Latin vulva (q. v.).] Of or belonging to the vulva. IMG:content-0596.jpg:[graphic] vulvo-uterine, a. Anat.: Of or belonging to the uterus and the vulva, as the vulvo - uterine canal=the vagina. vulvo-vaginal, a. Med.: Of or belonging to the vagina and the vulva, as the vulvo - vaginal glands. vy'-ing, pr. par. & a. [VIE.] vỹ'-lng-lý, adv. [Eng. vying; -ly.] In a vying manner; emulously. W THE twenty-third letter of the English alphabet. It takes its form and its name from the union of two V's, the character V having formerly the name and force of U. [U, V.] The name "double u" is not, however, a very suitable one, being given to the letter from its form or composition, and not from its sound. In the Anglo-Saxon alphabet W had a distinctive character of its own, the modern letter being adopted in the thirteenth century. W represents two sounds: (1) The distinctive sound properly belonging to it, being that which it has at the beginning of a syllable, and when followed by a vowel, as in was , will , woe , forward , housework , .; (2) at the end of syllables, in which position it is always preceded by a vowel, it has either no force at all (or at most only serves to lengthen the vowel), as in law , paw , grow , lawful , ., or it forms the second element in a diphthong, as in few , new , now, vow , ., being in such cases really a vowel, and equivalent to the u in bough , neutral , . It is formed by opening the mouth with a close, circular configuration of the lips, the organs having exactly the same position as they have in pronouncing the oo in foot . Wis hence often spoken of as a vowel; but it is not so, as may be seen by comparing woo , wood , and woman , in which w is not equivalent to oo . Wis now silent in many words and positions: (1) In words, as in gunwale , boatswain , answer , sword , two , twopence , .; (2) when initial and followed byr, as in wrap , write , wrong , . (It is, however, still sounded in this position in Scotland.) The initial wh , in Anglo-Saxon, hw , as in who (A. S. hwa ), whelp (A. S. hwelp ), had originally a guttural sound, as seen in the Scotch quhat =what, quhan = when, . It represents the cognate Icelandic hv , and Latin initial gu . In English pronunciation, in initial wh , the wis silent in who , whom ; in other words it is generally pronounced with a slight aspiration after it, as in when , what , which , though there is often a tendency to suppre the h and pronounce w pure and simple. The Anglo-Saxon initial sound wl has become simple l, as in lisp ; A. S. wlisp . W has disappeared from some words, as from ooze=A. S. wós ; four =A. S. feower ; tree=A. S. treow ; knee = A.S.kneow . It has crept into whole and its derivatives=A. S. hal, hol; so whoop =Fr. houper . It has disappeared from the combinations, tw , thw , and sw , as tush = A. S. twisc ; thong = A. S. thwang ; sister =A. S. swister, swuster; such =A. S. swilc . It represents v in periwinkle =Fr. pervenche , Latin per i vinca ; and g in law = A. S. lagu ; saw A. S. sage ; dawn =A. S. dagian ; marrow=A. S. mearg , .; so wafer =0. Fr. gauffre , goffre , Lat. gafrum. Coming before an a, the w often gives the vowel an o sound, as in wad , wallow , . W. As an initial, is used for West, as in charts: W. S. W. West-South-West, . W. As a symbol, is used: In chem.: For the element Tungsten (Wolfram). wa', s. [See def.] A wall (q. v.). ( Scotch .) "Stately stepped he east the wa '." Scott: Waverley, ch. xiii.