What does double consonant mean?

What does double consonant mean?

Definition of double consonant. 1 : a consonant letter occurring twice in succession in a word (as nn in tunnel)

Is Happy a double consonant?

Now for the second part: consonants are double to “protect” the short vowel for words ending in consonant+le or consonant+y. Think of words like “apple” and “happy”. Double letters are added in these cases because consonant+le and consonant+y endings are syllables on their own.

Why do some words have double consonants at the end?

When the distinction between long and short consonants ended, during Middle English, the writing of a double, as opposed to a single, consonant became a useful device to show that the preceding vowel was short, and we still retain this convention (albeit inconsistently).