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koppa

[kop-uh]
noun
  1. a letter (, ) of some early Greek alphabets, occurring between pi and rho and equivalent to Latin Q: later superseded by kappa except for its use as a numeral for 90.
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Origin of koppa

1865–70; < Greek kóppa < Semitic; akin to Hebrew qōph koph
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for koppa

Historical Examples

  • Koppa is probably a formation from "hoppa koppati," an imitation of the sound of the hoofs.

    The Mind of the Child, Part II

    W. Preyer

  • Race-horses of the best breed were marked with the old letter Koppa.

British Dictionary definitions for koppa

koppa

noun
  1. a consonantal letter in the Greek alphabet pronounced like kappa (K) with the point of articulation further back in the throat. It became obsolete in classical (Attic) Greek orthography, but was passed on to the Romans who incorporated it into their alphabet as Q
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Word Origin

Greek, of Semitic origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012