From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
V \V\ (v[=e]).
1. V, the twenty-second letter of the English alphabet, is a vocal consonant. V and U are only varieties of the same character, U being the cursive form, while V is better adapted for engraving, as in stone. The two letters were formerly used indiscriminately, and till a comparatively recent date words containing them were often classed together in dictionaries and other books of reference (see {U}). The letter V is from the Latin alphabet, where it was used both as a consonant (about like English w) and as a vowel. The Latin derives it from it from a form (V) of the Greek vowel [Upsilon] (see {Y}), this Greek letter being either from the same Semitic letter as the digamma F (see {F}), or else added by the Greeks to the alphabet which they took from the Semitic. Etymologically v is most nearly related to u, w, f, b, p; as in vine, wine; avoirdupois, habit, have; safe, save; trover, troubadour, trope. See U, F, etc. See Guide to Pronunciation, [sect] 265; also [sect][sect] 155, 169, 178-179, etc.
2. As a numeral, V stands for five, in English and Latin.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
v
adjective
1: being one more than four [syn: {five}, {5}]
noun
1: a unit of potential equal to the potential difference between two points on a conductor carrying a current of 1 ampere when the power dissipated between the two points is 1 watt; equivalent to the potential difference across a resistance of 1 ohm when 1 ampere of current flows through it [syn: {volt}]
2: a soft silvery white toxic metallic element used in steel alloys; it occurs in several complex minerals including carnotite and vanadinite [syn: {vanadium}, {atomic number 23}]
3: the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one [syn: {five}, {5}, {cinque}, {quint}, {quintet}, {fivesome}, {quintuplet}, {pentad}, {fin}, {Phoebe}, {Little Phoebe}]
4: the 22nd letter of the Roman alphabet
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
V Upper case V, {ASCII} character 86, known in {INTERCAL} as book.
1. A testbed for distributed system research. 2. Wide-spectrum language used in the knowledge-based environment {CHI}. "Research on Knowledge-Based Software Environments at Kestrel Inst", D.R. Smith et al, IEEE Trans Soft Eng SE-11(11):1278-1295 (1985).
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Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
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