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

So too the digamma is called “Aeolic” by grammarians, and is found on Aeolic and Doric inscriptions.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 6 "Home, Daniel" to "Hortensius, Quintus" by Various

Think of living forty years, like Doctor Chocker, on the husks of the digamma!

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 87, January, 1865 by Various

I don't care a straw for Greek particles, or the digamma, no more does his mother.

From Tom Brown's School Day's by Hughes, Thomas

But what the digamma does it matter to Esperanto whether we are interested in it or not?

From International Language Past, Present and Future: With Specimens of Esperanto and Grammar by Clark, Walter John

F autem apud Aeolis dumtaxat idem valere quod apud nos vau cum pro consonante scribitur, vocarique βαυ et digamma.

From The Roman Pronunciation of Latin Why we use it and how to use it by Lord, Frances Ellen