WYE, a town of Switzerland, in a territory of the abbey of St Gallen, with a palace. It is built on an eminence, 16 miles south-south-west of Constance. E. Long. 9. 4. N. Lat. 47. 34.
X, or x, is the 22d letter of our alphabet, and a double consonant. It was not used by the Hebrews or ancient Greeks; for, as it is a compound letter, the ancients, who used great simplicity in their writings, expressed this letter by its component letters cs. Neither have the Italians this letter, but express it by ss. X begins no word in our language but such as are of Greek original; and is in few others but what are of Latin derivation; as perplex, reflexion, defluxion, &c. We often express this sound by single letters, as cks, in backs, necks; by ks, in books, breaks; by cc, in accents, accident; by ct, in action, unction, &c. The English and French pronounce it like cs or ks; the Spaniards like c before a, viz. Alexandro, as it were Aleccandro. In numerals it expresseth 10, whence in old Roman manuscripts it is used for denarius; and as such seems to be made of two V's placed one over the other. When a dash is added over it, thus X̄, it signifies 10,000.