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- Greek (ελληνκα) is probably the oldest European language<\/strong> (spoken for 4000 years and in written form for 3000 years)<\/li>\n
- Greek was used across the Middle East<\/strong> and as far away as India<\/strong> during the Hellenistic Period<\/a> (330 BCE to 100 CE). The early Christian writers used Greek and one passage says God is the \"Alpha and Omega\" (Α<\/span> and Ω<\/span>, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet) to mean he is the beginning and the end <\/li>\n
- It was the official language of the Byzantine Empire<\/a> (the Roman civilisation centred on Constantinople − present-day Istanbul in Turkey − 380 to 1483 CE) which stretched around most of the Mediterranean<\/strong> and the Middle East<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Importantly (for its common use in mathematics<\/strong>), Greek was used widely for publishing scientific discoveries during the European Renaissance (15th century)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Common Greek letters used in mathematics<\/h2>\n
Probably the first Greek letter any of us come across is π<\/span> (pi<\/strong>), the value we get from dividing the circumference of a circle by its diameter. Pi was chosen to stand for 'perimeter'.<\/p>\n
Trigonometry makes great use of θ<\/span> (theta<\/strong>) as a variable for angles and also in statistics. <\/p>\n
A close runner-up for angles is phi<\/strong> (lower case: φ<\/span>, upper case:Φ<\/span>). Phi is also the symbol used for the Golden Ratio (1.618... See Math of Beauty<\/a>.) <\/p>\n
The first 3 letters of the Greek alphabet, α<\/span> (alpha<\/strong>), β<\/span> (beta<\/strong>) and γ<\/span> (gamma<\/strong>) are also used in trigonometry as variables for angles. You'll also come across upper case gamma (Γ<\/span>) as a variable, or as a function name.<\/p>\n
The 24th and last letter of the Greek alphabet, omega<\/strong> (ω<\/span>, upper case: Ω<\/span>) is commonly used in electricity<\/strong>. The unit for resistance is ohms (Ω<\/span>) and the angular velocity<\/strong> of an object rotating on an axis is written ω<\/span> and the units are usually radians\/second. (See Applications of radians<\/a>.) O-mega means \"big O\".<\/p>\n
In Scientific Notation<\/a> we use mu<\/strong> (μ<\/span>), for the prefix \"micro\" or 10-6<\/sup>. So for example, a human hair has width of about 50 μm<\/span>.<\/p>\n
Delta<\/strong> (δ<\/span>, upper case: Δ<\/span>) is used a lot when writing about differentiation<\/a> in calculus. It often means \"a small change in\" a quantity. So δx<\/i><\/span> (or Δx<\/i><\/span>) means \"a small change in x<\/i><\/span>\". The 5th Greek letter ε<\/span> (epsilon<\/strong>) is also used in calculus to mean \"an extremely small quantity - almost zero\".<\/p>\n
Next up is lambda<\/strong> (λ<\/span>, upper case: Λ<\/span>) which is used for the wavelength<\/strong> of a periodic wave.<\/p>\n
You'll come across sigma<\/strong> in probability and statistics<\/strong>. Upper case sigma (Σ<\/span>) is used for \"sum\" (see Summation Notation<\/a>) and lower case (σ<\/span>) is used for the standard deviation<\/strong> of a population measure in statistics.<\/p>\n
The density of an object<\/strong> is represented by rho<\/strong> (ρ<\/span>, upper case: Ρ<\/span>). Rho is also used in spherical polar coordinates to represent the radius.<\/p>\n
Less commonly used Greek letters<\/h2>\n
You usually only see the following Greek letters in university-level mathematics. As such, they are more difficult to remember (and some of them are difficult to pronounce!). Hopefully this list of Greek letters (with their common letter-name pronunciations in English, not necessarily how the Greeks pronounce them) will help you.<\/p>\n
Zeta<\/strong>, pronounced 'zeeta': Ζ, ζ<\/span> - the 6th letter of the alphabet (not the last)<\/p>\n
Eta<\/strong>, pronounced 'eeta': Η, η<\/span><\/p>\n
Iota<\/strong>, pronounced 'eye-oh-ta': Ι, ι<\/span> - used in the English saying \"not one iota of difference\" to mean \"almost identical\".<\/p>\n
Kappa<\/strong>: Κ, κ<\/span>
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<\/p>\nNu<\/strong>, pronounced 'noo': Ν, ν<\/span><\/p>\n
Xi<\/strong>, pronounced 'sigh': Ξ, ξ<\/span><\/p>\n
Omicron<\/strong>: Ο, ο<\/span> - O-micron means \"small O\". (Remember O-mega, or \"big O\" above?)<\/p>\n
Tau<\/strong>, rhymes with 'how': Τ, τ<\/span> - see Series R-L Circuit<\/a> for one use of Tau as a unit of time.<\/p>\n
Upsilon<\/strong>, pronounced 'oops-i-lon': Υ, υ<\/span><\/p>\n
Chi<\/strong>, pronounced 'kai' rhymes with 'eye': Χ, χ<\/span><\/p>\n
Psi<\/strong>, pronounced 'sigh' (yes, the same as Xi): Ψ, ψ<\/span> - as used in the words psychology and psychiatry - the \"p\" is usually silent.<\/p>\n
Utopia<\/h2>\n
- Greek was used across the Middle East<\/strong> and as far away as India<\/strong> during the Hellenistic Period<\/a> (330 BCE to 100 CE). The early Christian writers used Greek and one passage says God is the \"Alpha and Omega\" (Α<\/span> and Ω<\/span>, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet) to mean he is the beginning and the end <\/li>\n