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Delta (letter)

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Look up Δ, δ in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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Greek alphabet
Α α Alpha Ν ν Nu
Β β Beta Ξ ξ Xi
Γ γ Gamma Ο ο Omicron
Δ δ Delta Π π Pi
Ε ε Epsilon Ρ ρ Rho
Ζ ζ Zeta Σ σ ς Sigma
Η η Eta Τ τ Tau
Θ θ Theta Υ υ Upsilon
Ι ι Iota Φ φ Phi
Κ κ Kappa Χ χ Chi
Λ λ Lambda Ψ ψ Psi
Μ μ Mu Ω ω Omega
Obsolete letters
Ϝ ϝ Digamma Ϻ ϻ San
Ϙ ϙ Qoppa Ϡ ϡ Sampi
Ϛ ϛ Stigma Ϸ ϸ Sho
For other uses, see Delta.

Delta (uppercase Δ, lowercase δ) 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 Dalet. Letters that arose from Delta include the Latin D and the equivalent in the Cyrillic alphabet Д.

In Modern Greek it represents a voiced dental fricative /ð/, (like the th in the English word this) but in the Ancient Greek language, it represented a voiced dental plosive [d].

A river delta is named after the letter delta because it has roughly the triangular shape of the upper-case delta.

The upper-case letter Δ can be used to denote:

<math>{y_2-y_1\over x_2-x_1} = {\Delta y \over \Delta x} </math> = the average change of y per unit x commonly known as the change of y over the change of x.
  • By extension of the above, change generally, a use which shows up frequently in medical charts.
  • The Laplace operator:
<math>\Delta f = \sum_{i=1}^n {\frac{\partial^2}{\partial x_i^2}} </math>
<math>\Delta = b^2 - 4ac\,\!</math>

The lower-case letter δ can be used to denote:

br:Delta (lizherenn) bg:Делта ca:Delta (lletra) da:Delta (bogstav) de:Delta arc:Δ el:Δέλτα es:Δ eu:Delta (greko) fa:دلتا fr:Delta ga:Deilte gd:Delta gl:Delta (letra) ko:Δ hr:Delta it:Delta (lettera) he:דלתא (אות) la:Delta hu:Delta nl:Delta (letter) ja:Δ no:Delta (bokstav) nn:Delta nds:Delta pl:Delta pt:Δ ru:Дельта (буква) simple:Delta fi:Delta sv:Delta tr:Delta zh:Δ

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