sigma

American  

[sig-muh] / ˈsɪg mə /

noun

1. the 18th letter of the Greek alphabet: Σ, σ, ς.

2. the consonant sound represented by this letter.

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sigma British  

/ ˈsɪɡmə /

noun

1. the 18th letter in the Greek alphabet (Σ, σ, or, when final, ς), a consonant, transliterated as S

2. maths the symbol Σ, indicating summation of the numbers or quantities indicated

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sigma Scientific  

/ sĭg′mə /

1. A sigma baryon.

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Etymology

Origin of sigma

First recorded in 1600–10; from Latin, from Greek sígma

Example Sentences

Despite this, the combination of data from all three radio telescopes revealed a deviation exceeding five sigma, a statistically very strong signal considered in science as evidence for a significant result.

From Science Daily

In scientific jargon that is a five sigma result.

From BBC

"Slay", "sigma" and "skibidi" were chosen as the top three slang words, which OUP said demonstrated the role of social media in influencing children's vocabulary.

From BBC

If you’re lurking in dark corners of the internet, there’s alpha, beta and sigma males.

From Salon

"Our work shows that the dark photon hypothesis is preferred over the standard model hypothesis at a significance of 6.5 sigma, which constitutes evidence for a particle discovery."

From Science Daily