digamma

American  

[dahy-gam-uh] / daɪˈgæm ə /

noun

1. a letter of the early Greek alphabet that generally fell into disuse in Attic Greek before the classical period and that represented a sound similar to English w.

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digamma British  

/ daɪˈɡæmə /

noun

1. a letter of the Greek alphabet ( ) that became obsolete before the classical period of the language. It represented a semivowel like English W and was used as a numeral in later stages of written Greek, and passed into the Roman alphabet as F

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Other Word Forms

• digammated adjective

Etymology

Origin of digamma

1545–55; < Latin < Greek dígamma, equivalent to di- di- ¹ + gámma gamma; from its resemblance to two gammas placed one over the other, similar to Roman French, which is a descendant of digamma

Example Sentences

If V or F—the digamma is here admissible, then we arrive very near our own word Fish.

From Fishes, Flowers, and Fire as Elements and Deities in the Phallic Faiths and Worship of the Ancient Religions of Greece, Babylon, by Anonymous

Although the digamma escapes our salt, somewhere he lurks on the lonely mountains.

From Chimney-Pot Papers by Endell, Fritz August Gottfried

It is worth all the digamma disquisitions in the world; and France, as well as Italy, was once rich in historical Literati.

From A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume Two by Dibdin, Thomas Frognall

Spectators threw their hats into the trees, yelled themselves hoarse, and I saw several old mountaineers who understood no more of base-ball than of the lost digamma in Greek going wild with the general contagion.

From A Knight of the Cumberland by Fox, John

The apparent exception κόρη is explained by the fact that in this word a digamma ϝ has been lost after ρ, in Doric κόρϝα.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 4 "Grasshopper" to "Greek Language" by Various