Delta (letter)

Delta (/ˈdɛltə/;[1] uppercase Δ, lowercase δ; Greek: δέλτα, délta, [ˈðelta])[2] is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 4. It was derived from the Phoenician letter dalet 𐤃.[3] Letters that come from delta include Latin D and Cyrillic Д.

A river delta (originally, the delta of the Nile River) is so named because its shape approximates the triangular uppercase letter delta. Contrary to a popular legend, this use of the word delta was not coined by Herodotus.[4]

  1. ^ "delta". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. ^ "Dictionary of Standard Modern greek". Centre for the Greek Language.
  3. ^ "Definition of DELTA". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  4. ^ Celoria, Francis (1966). "Delta as a geographical concept in Greek literature". Isis. 57 (3): 385–388. doi:10.1086/350146. JSTOR 228368. S2CID 143811840.