![]() ![]() This became the universal standard form of sigma during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. In handwritten Greek during the Hellenistic period (4th–3rd century BC), the epigraphic form of Σ was simplified into a C-like shape, which has also been found on coins from the 4th century BC onward. Lunate sigmaĪ plaque reading " Metochion of Gethsemane" ( Μετόχιον Γεθσημανῆς) in Jerusalem, with a lunate sigma both at the end and in the middle of the word Alternatively, the name may have been a Greek innovation that simply meant 'hissing', from the root of σίζω ( sízō, from Proto-Greek *sig-jō 'I hiss'). Īccording to one hypothesis, the name "sigma" may continue that of Phoenician samekh ( ), the letter continued through Greek xi, represented as Ξ. Herodotus reports that "san" was the name given by the Dorians to the same letter called "sigma" by the Ionians. ![]() Sigma's original name may have been san, but due to the complicated early history of the Greek epichoric alphabets, san came to be identified as a separate letter in the Greek alphabet, represented as Ϻ. The shape (Σς) and alphabetic position of sigma is derived from the Phoenician letter ( shin). The Latin letter S derives from sigma while the Cyrillic letter Es derives from a lunate form of this letter. In Ὀδυσσεύς (Odysseus), for example, the two lowercase sigmas (σ) in the center of the name are distinct from the word-final sigma (ς) at the end. ![]() When used at the end of a letter-case word (one that does not use all caps), the final form (ς) is used. In general mathematics, uppercase Σ is used as an operator for summation. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. Sigma ( / ˈ s ɪ ɡ m ə/ uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς Greek: σίγμα) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet.
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