Greek alphabet explainer
Type Greek and get names plus transliteration; type letter names and get glyphs. The full 24-letter table explains where engineers meet each one, from μ micro to Ω ohms.
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The 24 letters
The full alphabet, with the modern transliteration (classical in parentheses where it differs) and the place you have most likely met each letter.
| # | Glyph | Name | Romanization | Where you have seen it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Α α | alpha | a | angles, alpha particles, software alpha releases, significance level in statistics |
| 2 | Β β | beta | v (b) | beta releases, beta particles, the beta of a stock |
| 3 | Γ γ | gamma | g | gamma rays, gamma correction in displays |
| 4 | Δ δ | delta | d | Δ = change or difference; river deltas; delta encoding |
| 5 | Ε ε | epsilon | e | an arbitrarily small quantity; machine epsilon in floating point |
| 6 | Ζ ζ | zeta | z | the Riemann zeta function; damping ratio in control theory |
| 7 | Η η | eta | i (e) | efficiency in engineering; refractive index contexts |
| 8 | Θ θ | theta | th | angles; Big-Theta complexity bounds |
| 9 | Ι ι | iota | i | 'not one iota' - the smallest letter as the smallest amount |
| 10 | Κ κ | kappa | k | curvature; Cohen's kappa in statistics |
| 11 | Λ λ | lambda | l | wavelength; anonymous functions and the lambda calculus; AWS Lambda |
| 12 | Μ μ | mu | m | micro- (μs, μm); the mean in statistics; coefficient of friction |
| 13 | Ν ν | nu | n | frequency in physics; looks like a Latin v - a classic mix-up |
| 14 | Ξ ξ | xi | x | random variables; the hardest one to handwrite |
| 15 | Ο ο | omicron | o | 'small o' (vs omega, 'big o'); little-o notation's namesake shape |
| 16 | Π π | pi | p | π = 3.14159...; Π for products, as Σ is for sums |
| 17 | Ρ ρ | rho | r | density; resistivity; correlation coefficient |
| 18 | Σ σ | sigma | s | Σ sums; σ standard deviation; six sigma; word-final form is ς |
| 19 | Τ τ | tau | t | time constants; torque; the 2π-partisans' circle constant |
| 20 | Υ υ | upsilon | y (u/y) | the ancestor of Latin U, V, W and Y - one Greek letter, four descendants |
| 21 | Φ φ | phi | f (ph) | the golden ratio; magnetic flux; phase angles |
| 22 | Χ χ | chi | ch | the chi-squared test; the X in Xmas is this letter, not the Latin X |
| 23 | Ψ ψ | psi | ps | wavefunctions in quantum mechanics; psychology's emblem |
| 24 | Ω ω | omega | o | Ω ohms - electrical resistance; ω angular frequency; 'big o' vs omicron |
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