The engine.

May 8, l945, the day the surrender of Germany was announced, officially ending the European phase of World War II.

The day of victory for the Allied forces over Japan in World War II. It is calculated both as Aug. 15, 1945, the day the fighting in Japan ended, and Sept. 2, 1945, the day Japan officially surrendered.

Acceptable on second reference for an aircraft capable of vertical or short takeoff or landing.

Acceptable on second reference for the Department of Veterans Affairs, which adopted VA as its initials when it took over the old Veterans Administration.

One c, two u's.

A trademark for a tranquilizer.

Capitalize as part of a full name: the Mississippi Valley. Lowercase standing alone or in plural uses: the valley, the Missouri and Mississippi valleys.

Varig is acceptable in most references. Headquarters is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

A trademark for a brand of petroleum jelly.

Stands alone in datelines.

Acceptable in all references for video cassette recorder.

Acceptable on second reference for video display terminal.

Trademark for a fabric fastener that can be easily pressed together and pulled apart.

VD is acceptable on second reference.

See oral, verbal.

The splitting of compound verb forms, including infinitives, is not necessarily an error, but often is awkward.

An infinitive is a verb form containing the word to: to go. It is split when something separates the word to from its partner: to quickly go.

Avoid awkward constructions that would damage the rhythm or meaning of a sentence.

Awkward: She was ordered to immediately leave on an assignment.

Better: She was ordered to leave immediately on an assignment.

Awkward: There stood the wagon that we had early last autumn left by the barn.

Better: There stood the wagon that we had left by the barn early last autumn.

But some constructions require that a compound verb be split. Examples:

The budget was tentatively approved.

I will not concede the election.

How has your health been?

He wanted to really help his mother.

Do not manufacture verbs from nouns. Wrong: She authored the book. Right: She wrote the book.

Headquarters is in New York.

Abbreviation.: Vt. See state(s).

See poetry.

versus Spell it out in ordinary usage. The abbreviation vs. may be used headlines, lists, schedules, etc. Also use vs. in court cases: Roe vs. Wade.

VHF is acceptable in all references.

Formerly Armistice Day, Nov. 11, the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I in 1918. The federal legal holiday, observed on the fourth Monday in October during the mid-1970s, returned to Nov. 11 in 1978.

VFW is acceptable on second reference. Headquarters is in Kansas City, Mo.

acceptable in all references for very high frequency.

Means by way of, not by means of. Right: The president went to Cleveland via Pittsburgh.. Wrong: The president flew to Maine via Air Force One.

vice- Two words in all uses: vice admiral, vice chairman, vice chancellor, vice consul, vice president, vice principal, vice regent, vice secretary, a vice presidential candidate. Several are exceptions to Webster's New World.

(No hyphen.) Capitalize as a formal title before a name. Vice President James Smith.. Lowercase standing alone or set off by commas: the vice president, James Smith. Do not drop the first name when used with the title. Drop the title only on second reference. Also: a vice presidential candidate.

Still a trademark for a brand of record player.

l VDT is acceptable on second reference.

, vied, vying

The capital of Austria stands alone in datelines.

, vienna sausages See food.

Not Viet Nam. Also: Vietnam War. But: The war in Vietnam. The form in datelines: HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Nov. 11 (UPI) --

See city.

Acceptable in all references for very important person(s).

Do not abbreviate. Specify an individual island in the text if needed. In datelines: CHARLOTTE AMALIE, Virgin Islands, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- See British Virgin Islands.

See religion.

Abbreviation: Va. Strictly speaking, it's a commonwealth, not a state. See state(s) .

A computer-generated illusion of three-dimensional space.

A computer program that attaches itself to other programs and causes disruption or damage.

, viscountess See nobility.

Lowercase vitamin: vitamin A, vitamin B-12.

(No hyphen.) An electronic system that stores and delivers recorded telephone messages.

VOA is acceptable on second reference.

VoIP Acronym for voice over Internet protocol. Spell out on first reference.

The name of the U.S. subsidiary of the German company named Volkswagen A.G. Headquarters is in Auburn, Mich..

See foreign particles.

Use figures for the totals. Spell out below 10 in other related phrases related to voting: by a five-vote majority, with three abstentions, four votes short of the necessary two-thirds majority. For results that involve fewer than 1,000 votes on each side: The House voted 230-205, a 230-205 vote.

For totals that involve more than 1,000 votes on a side, separate the figures with to and avoid hyphenated adjectival constructions: The vote was 1,333 to 1,222.

See election returns for examples.

Virtual Private Network. A computer network supplied by common carriers (such as AT&T and MCI) that uses the Internet as its transmission medium.

See versus.

Acceptable on second reference for an aircraft capable of vertical takeoff or landing.

See obscenities.