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

The philological chores, so to speak, night and morning, that had once fallen to the digamma, they took upon themselves, until the very name of the letter was all but lost.

From Chimney-Pot Papers by Endell, Fritz August Gottfried

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

In b etiam solet apud Aeolis transire ϝ digamma quotiens ab ρ incipit dictio quae solet aspirari, ut ῥήτωρ, βρήτωρ dicunt, quod digamma nisi vocali praeponi et in principio syllabae non potest.

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

Doubtless it ran an honorable course and passed on from class to class the tradition of its high ambition, but never again was the lost digamma so nearly in its grasp.

From Chimney-Pot Papers by Endell, Fritz August Gottfried

Now the office of the Greek digamma was apparently manifold.

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