The 24 Greek Alphabet Letters and What They Mean · PrepScholar (2024)

The 24 Greek Alphabet Letters and What They Mean · PrepScholar (1)

The Ancient Greeks are known for their contributions to modern society. The Greeks are often thought of as the founders of philosophy, as well as early pioneers in literature, government, and more. The Greeks were also one of the first to develop a comprehensive, written language that surfaced around the 8th century B.C, and was used widely across the region.

Though the ancient Greek alphabet originally had multiple variants, The Euclidean Alphabet, which is still used today, has been used since the 4th century B.C. In addition to being used in the Greek language, Greek letters are also used as symbols in math and science, as well as in other fields. Below, we will go over the Greek letters as they’re used today, modern pronunciation, and their approximate English equivalents.

A Brief History of the Greek Alphabet

The Greek language was adapted from the earlier Phoenician and Semitic alphabet. Initially, the Greek alphabet used all the symbols from the Phoenician alphabet and adapted some to denote vowel sounds. The Greeks added and dropped letters over time and changed their sounds and meaning.

At first, the language used the same alphabet was pronunciations, and therefore dialects, differed by region, being separated into Southern, Western, Eastern, and Classic. The Southern dialect was most similar to the ancient Phoenician.

The way the letters were written were adapted over time as well. Originally, there were no uppercase letters. These were added in the late ninth century. They also changed what the letters were called to match the changing pronunciation. In this way, the Greek alphabet is very phonetic, and you can see these phonetic influences in other languages across the globe.

The same Greek alphabet is still used today, with some modifications in the letters and pronunciations.

Other Uses for Greek Alphabet Symbols

While you may not use the Greek alphabet symbols in your own language, you may recognize some of the letters from math, science, and other labeling. There are just a few common examples of where you might see Greek letters

A common example is the Greek letter Pi, which is a mathematical constant and is used as the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its radius. Pi is commonly shortened to “3.14”

Greek letters are also used in astronomy, to identify stars within a constellation. The biggest star in a constellation would be referred to as the Alpha, and the second biggest star as the beta and so forth.

Greek alphabet letters are also used in computer science and is an important part of some coding methods, such as Unicode.

Greek letters are also used often on college campuses by fraternities and sororities, and the organizations are often referred to collectively as “Greek Life” because they have adopted the alphabet as a naming technique, originally as a way to keep their organization a secret from non-members.

The 24 Greek Alphabet Letters and What They Mean · PrepScholar (2)

The Greek Alphabet

Now that you recognize where and how you’ve encountered Greek alphabet symbols, we can go over which Greek letters are which, and how to identify and pronounce them.

Chart 1: Greek Alphabet Letters and Their English Equivalents

Of course, the English equivalents are not exact, but are the closest we could find. If you go ahead and start learning Greek, you’ll find that some sounds are more frequent than others, and the pronunciations in some cases are slightly different than what we’ve outlined below.

Greek Uppercase LettersGreek Lowercase LettersGreek Letter NameEnglish Equivalent (Modern approximate)
ΑαAlpha (Alfa)A
ΒβBeta (Veeta)V
ΓγGamme (Yamma)Y
ΔδDelta (Thel-ta)D
ΕεEpsilon (Epsilon)E
ΖζZeta (Zee-ta)Z
ΗηEta (Ee-ta)I
ΘθTheta (Thee-ta)Th
ΙιIota (Yo-ta)I
ΚκKappa (Kah-pa)K
ΛλLamda (Lahm-tha)L
ΜμMu (Mee)M
ΝνNu (Nee)N
ΞξXi (Ksee)X
ΟοOmicron (Oh-mee-cron)O
ΠπPi (Pee)P
ΡρRho (Ro)R
ΣσSigma (Siy-ma)S
ΤτTau (Tahf)T
ΥυUpsilon (Eepsilon)I (ee)
ΦφPhi (Fee)F
ΧχChi (Hee)Ch
ΨψPsi (Psee)Ps
ΩωOmega (Omay-ya)O

Chart 2: Greek Alphabet Letters With Modern and Ancient Pronunciations

Keep in mind that these pronunciations are the closest we could find to English, but are not exact.

Greek LetterLetter NameAncient PronunciationModern Pronunciation
Α αAlphaA like in AcornA like in fAther
Β βBetaB like in BoatV like in Vet
Γ γGammaG like in GemY like in Yes
Δ δDeltaD like in DoorTh like in Those
Ε εEpsilonE as in ExcellentE like in Excellent
Ζ ζZetaSd like in wiSDomZ like in Zoo
Η ηEtaA like in trAInI like in taxI
Θ ο

Theta

T like in TenTh like in THem
Ι ιIotaI as in machIneY like in Yodel
Κ κKappaK like in marKK like in marK
Λ λLamdaL like in LargeL like in Large
Μ μMuM like in ModernM like in Modern
Ν νNuN like in NeverN like in Never
Ξ ξXiX like in neXtX like in neXt
Ο οOmicronO like in sOftO like in sOft
Π πPiP like in PopP like in Pop
Ρ ρRhoTrilled/rolled R like in Spanish peRRoTrilled/roller R like in Spanish peRRO
Σ σSigmaS like in SoftS like in muSic
Τ τTauT like in TeachT like in Teach
Υ υUpsilonU like in rUseI like in machIne
Φ φPhiP like in PoolF like in Fan
Χ χChiC like in CatCh like in loCHness
Ψ ψPsiPs like in laPSePs like in laPSe
ΩωOmegaAw like in clAWO like in sOft

The 24 Greek Alphabet Letters and What They Mean · PrepScholar (3)

The Greek alphabet has been a significant part of historical events and major contributions to the arts and humanities. Even Greek mythology is a major part of our collective consciousness, and the alphabet was the beginning of these major achievements. Knowing the Greek alphabet can help you gain a better understanding of Greek classics, as well as provide knowledge and reference in science and math where it requires you to know the Greek alphabet. Even if you don’t plan on becoming fluent, it’s definitely worth knowing.

What's Next?

Curious about Greek mythology? Start with Zeus, the King of the Greek gods.

Interested in learning the basics of more languages? Check out our guides on How to Say Good Morning in Japanese and French, Spanish Body Parts and Love Quotes, and Thank You in German.

For math and science subjects where you'll probably encounter Greek letters, read all about dynamic equilibrium, trig identities, and STEM careers.

The 24 Greek Alphabet Letters and What They Mean · PrepScholar (2024)

FAQs

What are the 24 Greek letters with meaning? ›

Chart 2: Greek Alphabet Letters With Modern and Ancient Pronunciations
Greek LetterLetter NameAncient Pronunciation
Δ δDeltaD like in Door
Ε εEpsilonE as in Excellent
Ζ ζZetaSd like in wiSDom
Η ηEtaA like in trAIn
20 more rows

What do the Greek letters symbolize? ›

Greek letters are commonly used in math and science to represent things like constants or variables. Some examples include: Using lowercase pi (𝜋) to represent the circumference to diameter ratio of a circle. Using delta (Δ) to represent a difference in measurement.

Are there 24 or 27 Greek letters? ›

History and evolution of the Greek language

There are 24 letters in the Greek alphabet.

What is the Greek alphabet A to Z in order? ›

The uppercase and lowercase forms of the 24 letters are: Α α, Β β, Γ γ, Δ δ, Ε ε, Ζ ζ, Η η, Θ θ, Ι ι, Κ κ, Λ λ, Μ μ, Ν ν, Ξ ξ, Ο ο, Π π, Ρ ρ, Σ σ/ς, Τ τ, Υ υ, Φ φ, Χ χ, Ψ ψ, Ω ω.

What does omega mean? ›

: the extreme or final part : end compare alpha see also alpha and omega. 3. : something or someone designated with the name omega or the Greek letter ω especially denoting the last in position, order, or class.

What does the Zeta symbol mean? ›

Zeta (uppercase/lowercase Ζ ζ), is the letter of the Greek alphabet, used to represent the "z" sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. Letters that came from it include the Roman Z and Cyrillic З.

What is the Greek letter to represent the mean? ›

Greek Small Letter Mu

The Greek letter μ (mu) is used in statistics to represent the population mean of a distribution.

What Greek letter represents life? ›

In ancient times, tau was used as a symbol for life or resurrection, whereas the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet, theta, was considered the symbol of death.

What does the P mean in Greek? ›

Pi (/ˈpaɪ/; Ancient Greek /piː/ or /peî/, uppercase Π, lowercase π, cursive ϖ; Greek: πι [pi]) is the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet, meaning units united, and representing the voiceless bilabial plosive IPA: [p].

What letter is missing from the Greek alphabet? ›

Answer and Explanation: The "H" sound is missing from the Greek alphabet. The Greek letter that looks like an "H" is called eta, and is a vowel.

Is Greek hard to learn? ›

This means that it falls under “Hard Languages” that have significant linguistic or cultural differences from English. This makes it a difficult language for English speakers to learn and master. The estimated time it takes to learn Greek is 44 weeks (1100 hours).

Why does the Greek alphabet have 24 letters? ›

Answer and Explanation: The 24 letters of the Greek alphabet are sufficient to represent the sounds of the ancient Greek language. In other words, no additional letters were needed. The Latin alphabet that we use today expanded on the Greek to include letters such as W and J.

What are the 24 Greek letters and their symbols? ›

The uppercase and lowercase forms of the letters are:
  • Alpha - Α α Beta - Β β Gamma - Γ γ Delta - Δ δ Epsilon - Ε ε Zeta - Ζ ζ
  • Eta - Η η Theta - Θ θ Iota - Ι ι Kappa - Κ κ Lambda - Λ λ Mu - Μ μ
  • Nu - Ν ν Xi - Ξ ξ Omicron - Ο ο Pi - Π π Rho - Ρ ρ Sigma - Σ σ/ς
  • Tau - Τ τ Upsilon - Υ υ Phi - Φ φ Chi - Χ χ Psi - Ψ ψ
Jun 10, 2022

What does lambda mean? ›

Lambda, the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet (λ), is used as both a symbol and a concept in various fields of science, mathematics and computing. Although originally used as a symbol for wavelength in mathematical equations, developers and engineers now use lambda in computer programming and cloud computing.

What do Greek letters mean in fraternities? ›

At first, these societies were elite academic organizations or societies at colleges and universities, and their three letter names stood for actual mottos, as in the case of Phi Beta Kappa. Such societies came to be called fraternities after the Latinate word fraternity, as we saw earlier.

How do you pronounce Xi and PSI? ›

This is the case with the letter psi (Ψ ψ), which was pronounced PS, and with the letter xi (Ξ ξ), corresponding to our X. (Caution: The letter that looks like our X is chi. See below.) However, in Greek psi and xi can occur as initial sounds of words, which would seem unpronounceable in English.

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