delta
pronunciation
How to pronounce delta in British English:
UK [ˈdeltə]
How to pronounce delta in American English:
US [ˈdeltə]
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- Noun:
- a low triangular area where a river divides before entering a larger body of water
- the 4th letter of the Greek alphabet
Word Origin
- delta
- delta: [16] Delta was the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, corresponding to English d. Its capital form was written in the shape of a tall triangle, and already in the ancient world the word was being applied metaphorically to the triangular deposit of sand, mud, etc which forms at the mouth of rivers (the Greek historian Herodotus, for instance, used it with reference to the mouth of the Nile). Greek acquired the word itself from some Semitic language; it is related to dāleth, the name of the fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
- delta (n.)
- c. 1200, Greek letter shaped like a triangle, equivalent to our "D," the name from Phoenician daleth "tent door." Herodotus used it of the mouth of the Nile, and it was so used in English from 1550s; applied to other river mouths from 1790.
Example
- 1. He was tucker 's main supporter in the delta .
- 2. This is just for delta .
- 3. His first concern should be the niger delta .
- 4. Others in the delta have been less reticent .
- 5. The underground sediment of the ganges delta contains arsenic .