Greek Letters Symbols: Names, Meanings and LaTeX Codes

This cheat sheet lists 22 Greek Letters symbols from nyuyo. It includes alpha, beta, capital-delta and more. Each entry shows the symbol, its meaning, LaTeX command, Unicode code point and HTML entity. Every entry also shows how to read an example aloud.

alpha

Character	`α`
Name	Alpha
Meaning	The first letter of the Greek alphabet. It is often used for angles, coefficients, and significance levels in statistics.
LaTeX	`\alpha`
Unicode	`U+03B1`
HTML entity	`α`
Example expression	`α + β = 90°`
Read aloud	alpha plus beta equals ninety degrees
Related symbols	Beta, Gamma

beta

Character	`β`
Name	Beta
Meaning	The second letter of the Greek alphabet. It is often used for a second angle or a second coefficient.
LaTeX	`\beta`
Unicode	`U+03B2`
HTML entity	`β`
Example expression	`y = β₀ + β₁x`
Read aloud	y equals beta nought plus beta one x
Related symbols	Alpha, Gamma, Delta

capital-delta

Character	`Δ`
Name	Capital Delta
Meaning	The uppercase fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. It usually means a change or difference in a quantity.
LaTeX	`\Delta`
Unicode	`U+0394`
HTML entity	`Δ`
Example expression	`Δx = x₂ − x₁`
Read aloud	delta x equals x two minus x one
Related symbols	Delta, Nabla

capital-gamma

Character	`Γ`
Name	Capital Gamma
Meaning	The uppercase third letter of the Greek alphabet. It names the gamma function, which extends the factorial, and often stands for a set of assumptions or a group.
LaTeX	`\Gamma`
Unicode	`U+0393`
HTML entity	`Γ`
Example expression	`Γ(n) = (n − 1)!`
Read aloud	gamma of n equals n minus one factorial
Related symbols	Gamma, Factorial

capital-omega

Character	`Ω`
Name	Capital Omega
Meaning	The uppercase last letter of the Greek alphabet. It often stands for the sample space in probability, a region of space, or the ohm, and Ω(f) gives an asymptotic lower bound.
LaTeX	`\Omega`
Unicode	`U+03A9`
HTML entity	`Ω`
Example expression	`P(Ω) = 1`
Read aloud	the probability of omega equals one
Related symbols	Omega, Capital Sigma, Capital Delta

capital-sigma

Character	`Σ`
Name	Capital Sigma
Meaning	The uppercase eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In running text it often stands for a sum or a covariance matrix; the large summation sign ∑ is a separate character.
LaTeX	`\Sigma`
Unicode	`U+03A3`
HTML entity	`Σ`
Example expression	`Σ = cov(X)`
Read aloud	capital sigma equals the covariance matrix of X
Related symbols	Sigma, Summation

chi

Character	`χ`
Name	Chi
Meaning	The twenty-second letter of the Greek alphabet. It names the chi-squared distribution, the Euler characteristic, and the indicator function of a set.
LaTeX	`\chi`
Unicode	`U+03C7`
HTML entity	`χ`
Example expression	`χ(S²) = 2`
Read aloud	the Euler characteristic of the sphere equals two
Related symbols	Psi, Sigma

delta

Character	`δ`
Name	Delta
Meaning	The lowercase fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. It usually stands for a small quantity, as in the epsilon–delta definition of a limit.
LaTeX	`\delta`
Unicode	`U+03B4`
HTML entity	`δ`
Example expression	`\|x − a\| < δ`
Read aloud	the absolute value of x minus a is less than delta
Related symbols	Capital Delta, Epsilon, Partial Derivative

epsilon

Character	`ε`
Name	Epsilon
Meaning	The fifth letter of the Greek alphabet. It usually stands for an arbitrarily small positive number. In LaTeX, \varepsilon gives this form and \epsilon gives the lunate form ϵ.
LaTeX	`\varepsilon`
Unicode	`U+03B5`
HTML entity	`ε`
Example expression	`ε > 0`
Read aloud	epsilon is greater than zero
Related symbols	Delta, Element Of, Lambda

eta

Character	`η`
Name	Eta
Meaning	The seventh letter of the Greek alphabet. It often stands for efficiency, a learning rate, or a small test function.
LaTeX	`\eta`
Unicode	`U+03B7`
HTML entity	`η`
Example expression	`η = 0.01`
Read aloud	eta equals zero point zero one
Related symbols	Zeta, Theta, Epsilon

gamma

Character	`γ`
Name	Gamma
Meaning	The third letter of the Greek alphabet. It is often used for a third angle, for curves, and for the Euler–Mascheroni constant.
LaTeX	`\gamma`
Unicode	`U+03B3`
HTML entity	`γ`
Example expression	`α + β + γ = 180°`
Read aloud	alpha plus beta plus gamma equals one hundred eighty degrees
Related symbols	Alpha, Beta

kappa

Character	`κ`
Name	Kappa
Meaning	The tenth letter of the Greek alphabet. It usually stands for the curvature of a curve, and also for a condition number or an infinite cardinal.
LaTeX	`\kappa`
Unicode	`U+03BA`
HTML entity	`κ`
Example expression	`κ = 1/r`
Read aloud	kappa equals one over r
Related symbols	Lambda, Rho

lambda

Character	`λ`
Name	Lambda
Meaning	The eleventh letter of the Greek alphabet. It often stands for an eigenvalue, a wavelength, or a rate.
LaTeX	`\lambda`
Unicode	`U+03BB`
HTML entity	`λ`
Example expression	`Av = λv`
Read aloud	A v equals lambda v
Related symbols	Mu, Sigma, Epsilon

mu

Character	`μ`
Name	Mu
Meaning	The twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet. In statistics it usually stands for the mean of a population.
LaTeX	`\mu`
Unicode	`U+03BC`
HTML entity	`μ`
Example expression	`μ = 50`
Read aloud	mu equals fifty
Related symbols	Sigma, Lambda

omega

Character	`ω`
Name	Omega
Meaning	The last letter of the Greek alphabet. It often stands for angular frequency or for the first infinite ordinal.
LaTeX	`\omega`
Unicode	`U+03C9`
HTML entity	`ω`
Example expression	`ω = 2πf`
Read aloud	omega equals two pi f
Related symbols	Pi, Theta, Lambda

psi

Character	`ψ`
Name	Psi
Meaning	The twenty-third letter of the Greek alphabet. It usually stands for a wave function in quantum mechanics, and often names a second angle or function beside φ.
LaTeX	`\psi`
Unicode	`U+03C8`
HTML entity	`ψ`
Example expression	`Hψ = Eψ`
Read aloud	H psi equals E psi
Related symbols	Chi, Capital Omega, Lambda

rho

Character	`ρ`
Name	Rho
Meaning	The seventeenth letter of the Greek alphabet. It often stands for density, a correlation coefficient, or the radial distance in spherical coordinates.
LaTeX	`\rho`
Unicode	`U+03C1`
HTML entity	`ρ`
Example expression	`ρ = m/V`
Read aloud	rho equals m over V
Related symbols	Sigma, Theta

sigma

Character	`σ`
Name	Sigma
Meaning	The lowercase eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In statistics it usually stands for the standard deviation of a population.
LaTeX	`\sigma`
Unicode	`U+03C3`
HTML entity	`σ`
Example expression	`σ² = 4`
Read aloud	sigma squared equals four
Related symbols	Capital Sigma, Mu, Summation

tau

Character	`τ`
Name	Tau
Meaning	The nineteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. It often stands for torque, a time constant, or a topology, and is sometimes used for the full-turn constant 2π.
LaTeX	`\tau`
Unicode	`U+03C4`
HTML entity	`τ`
Example expression	`τ = 2π`
Read aloud	tau equals two pi
Related symbols	Pi, Rho, Sigma

theta

Character	`θ`
Name	Theta
Meaning	The eighth letter of the Greek alphabet. It is the most common name for an angle.
LaTeX	`\theta`
Unicode	`U+03B8`
HTML entity	`θ`
Example expression	`sin θ`
Read aloud	sine theta
Related symbols	Alpha, Angle

xi

Character	`ξ`
Name	Xi
Meaning	The fourteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. It often stands for an intermediate point, as in the mean value theorem, or for a random variable.
LaTeX	`\xi`
Unicode	`U+03BE`
HTML entity	`ξ`
Example expression	`f′(ξ) = (f(b) − f(a))/(b − a)`
Read aloud	f prime of xi equals f of b minus f of a, over b minus a
Related symbols	Zeta, Eta, Prime

zeta

Character	`ζ`
Name	Zeta
Meaning	The sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. It most often names the Riemann zeta function, and also stands for complex variables and damping ratios.
LaTeX	`\zeta`
Unicode	`U+03B6`
HTML entity	`ζ`
Example expression	`ζ(2) = π²/6`
Read aloud	zeta of two equals pi squared over six
Related symbols	Xi, Eta

FAQ

How many Greek Letters symbols are on this page?

This page lists 22 Greek Letters symbols, including alpha, beta, capital-delta.

How do I type Greek Letters symbols in LaTeX?

Each symbol on this page has its LaTeX command shown next to it, for example \alpha, \beta, \chi. Copy the command into your maths mode.

What are the Unicode code points for Greek Letters symbols?

Every symbol lists its Unicode code point, such as U+0393, U+0394, U+03A3, so you can insert it in documents and web pages.

How do I write Greek Letters symbols in HTML?

Each entry shows its HTML entity where one exists, for example α, β, χ. You can paste it directly into your page.

How do I read Greek Letters symbols aloud?

Each symbol has an example expression and a spoken version, such as |x − a| < δ, Av = λv, f′(ξ) = (f(b) − f(a))/(b − a) read as A v equals lambda v, alpha plus beta equals ninety degrees, alpha plus beta plus gamma equals one hundred eighty degrees.

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