wT

wT is not a single established term with a universal definition. In mathematical notation, it is most commonly encountered as a plain-text representation of the transpose of a vector w, usually written as w^T. When formatting is available, w^T turns a column vector w into a row vector; the product w^T x with another column vector x yields a scalar equal to the dot product of w and x.

In linear algebra and machine learning, w is often a weight or parameter vector. For example, in a linear model y = w^T x + b, w^T x represents the weighted sum of the input features and serves as the model’s linear prediction before applying an activation or threshold. Because plain text cannot easily show superscripts, some authors write wT to indicate the transpose, though this can be confused with ordinary multiplication unless clarified with context or parentheses.

Ambiguity can arise when wT appears without formatting, since it could be misread as the product of w and T. To avoid confusion, it is advisable to use explicit notation such as w^T or (w)^T, or to define the meaning of wT clearly in the text.

Beyond mathematics, WT or wt can have other meanings in different domains—such as wild type (WT) in genetics or weight (wt) in statistics—where capitalization and context determine interpretation. In summary, when seen as wT, the prevailing mathematical meaning is the transpose of a vector w, with the exact interpretation dependent on the surrounding context.