Greek Alphabet / Letters / Symbols
Greek letters are commonly used as numerical prefixes and to represent physical and mathematical quantities. After only four years of engineering school, we have all written most of them hundreds of times. Most of us know the entire Greek alphabet my heart, kind of like the learning a language by immersion method - you do it without knowing. Unfortunately, as with a language, a lot of it disappears after many years of sparse usage.

Included in the table are common uses for the Greek symbols in engineering. All are used on occasion for representing angles.

If you know of others that should be added, please send me an e-mail.





Alpha A α  
Beta Β β modulation index
Gamma Γ γ reflection coefficient
Delta Δ δ difference
Epsilon Ε ε dielectric coefficient, permittivity
Zeta Ζ ζ  
Eta Η η  
Theta Θ θ vector angle
Iota Ι ι  
Kappa Κ κ  
Lambda Λ λ wavelength
Mu Μ μ permeability
Nu Ν ν frequency
Xi Ξ ξ  
Omicron Ο ο  
Pi Π π  
Rho Ρ ρ resistivity
Sigma Σ σ  
Tau Τ τ time, group delay
Upsilon Υ υ  
Phi Φ φ  
Chi Χ χ  
Psi Ψ ψ  
Omega Ω ω resistance, impedance