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.

---

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

---

Other Word Forms

Derived 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