delta

delta

1. Alternative letter-case form of Delta of the ICAO/NATO radiotelephony alphabet.

Ancient Greek Alphabet

← gamma		→ epsilon
Δ δ Ancient Greek: δέλτα
Wikipedia article on delta

From Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta), borrowed from a Phoenician word for "door", ultimately from Proto-Semitic *dalt-. Doublet of dalet.

• (river): from the triangular shape of the majuscule Greek letter delta Δ
• (USSF): from the delta wing, symbol of the USSF, a triangular wing, shaped like the majuscule Greek letter delta Δ

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛltə/, [ˈdɛɫtə]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛltə

delta (plural deltas)

2. The fourth letter of the modern Greek alphabet Δ, δ.
4. A landform at the mouth of a river where it empties into a body of water.

   Nile Delta

5. (international standards) Alternative letter-case form of Delta from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet.
6. (mathematics, physics, engineering) The symbol Δ; A change in a quantity, likely from "d" for "difference".

   ΔV - "delta vee"(change in velocity, used in rocketry and orbital mechanics)

7. (finance) The rate of change in an option value with respect to the underlying asset's price.
8. (chemistry) A value in delta notation indicating the relative abundances of isotopes.
9. (computing) The set of differences between two versions of a file.

   When you update the file, the system will only save the deltas.

10. (computing, informal) A small but noticeable effect. Compare epsilon.

    This will slow the main code path down, but only by delta.

11. (surveying) The angle subtended at the center of a circular arc.
12. A type of cargo bike that has one wheel in front and two in back.
13. (electrical, often attributive) The closed figure produced by connecting three coils or circuits successively, end for end, especially in a three-phase system.

    delta winding; delta connection; delta current

14. (US, military, U.S. Space Force) A military unit, nominally headed by a colonel, equivalent to a USAF operations wing, or an army regiment.
15. (astronomy) a star that is usually the fourth brightest of a constellation.
16. (physics) one of four baryons consisting of up and down quarks with a combined spin of 3/2: Δ⁺⁺ (uuu), Δ⁺ (uud), Δ⁰ (udd), or Δ⁻ (ddd)
17. (medicine) Short for delta variant. (variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus)

• (USSF): garrison (a support wing equivalent)

• (measure of derivative price sensitivity): Greeks (includes list of coordinate terms)
• (particle physics): baryon; resonance

• deltoid
• Appendix: IPA examples

delta (third-person singular simple present deltas, present participle deltaing, simple past and past participle deltaed)

1. (cryptography) To calculate the differences between the characters in an enciphered text and the characters a fixed number of positions previous.
   • 2007, B. J. Copeland, “Tunny and Colossus: Breaking the Lorenz Schlüsselzusatz traffic”, in Karl de Leeuw, Jan Bergstra, editors, The History of Information Security: A Comprehensive Handbook, Amsterdam: Elsevier, →ISBN, page 458:

     Turingery worked on deltaed key to produce the deltaed contribution of the chi-wheels. Turing's discovery that delta-ing would reveal information otherwise hidden was essential to the developments that followed.

2. (computing) To compare two versions of the same file in order to determine where they differ (where a programmer has made edits).
   • 1992, Israel Silverberg, Source File Management With SCCS, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, →ISBN, page 166:

     The primary function of this command is to delta the product version file (if it has been retrieved for edit). However, prior to deltaing the product version file, the work source tree is searched to verify that no other source files are still waiting to be deltaed.

• atled, Tedla, lated, Adlet, dealt, dalet, adlet, taled

From Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta).

delta f (plural deltes)

1. delta (Greek letter)

delta m (plural deltes)

1. delta (landform at the mouth of a river)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta).

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈdɛl.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈdel.ta]

delta f (plural deltes)

1. delta; the Greek letter Δ (lowercase δ)
2. (geography) a delta

• metall delta

Greek letter

Δδ	Previous:	gama
	Next:	epsilon

• IPA^(key): [ˈdɛlta]

Borrowed from Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta), which is probably of Semitic origin.^[1]

delta n (indeclinable)

1. Delta (Greek letter Δ)
2. (physics) kind of rays consisting of secondary electrons with enough energy to escape a significant distance away from the primary radiation beam and produce further ionization (delta ray)

delta (indeclinable)

1. having the shape of the Greek letter Δ

   delta křídlo ― delta wing

Borrowed from Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta). Originally used for the delta of the Nile, because its forked shape resembled the Greek letter Δ. The word is probably of Semitic origin.^[1]

delta f (related adjective deltový)

1. (geography) delta (forked mouth of a river)

• “delta”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “delta”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

• datel
• datle

From Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta).

delta n (singular definite deltaet, plural indefinite deltaer)

1. a river delta
2. delta (the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, Δ, δ.)

• “delta” in Den Danske Ordbog

Ultimately from Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta). Doublet of dalet.

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛl.taː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: del‧ta

delta f (plural delta's, diminutive deltaatje n)

1. the Greek letter delta
2. a river delta, a network of one or more rivers and tributaries pouring out into a larger body of water

   Synonym: rivierdelta

• estuarium

Greek letter

Δδ	Previous:	gamma
	Next:	epsilon

From Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta).

• IPA^(key): /ˈdelt(ː)ɑ/, [ˈde̞l̪t̪(ː)ɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -eltɑ
• Hyphenation^(key): del‧ta

delta

1. delta (Greek letter)

• suisto

• “delta”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

• dalet

From Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta).

• IPA^(key): /dɛl.ta/

• Audio:

  (file)

delta m (plural delta or deltas)

1. delta (Greek letter)

delta m (plural deltas)

1. delta (geographical feature)

   Hypernym: embouchure

• “delta”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

From Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta).

delta m (plural deltas)

1. delta (Greek letter)
2. delta (landform at the mouth of a river)

From Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta).

• IPA^(key): [ˈdɛltɒ]
• Hyphenation: del‧ta

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -tɒ

delta (plural delták)

1. delta (Greek letter)
2. delta (landform at the mouth of a river)

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	delta	delták
accusative	deltát	deltákat
dative	deltának	deltáknak
instrumental	deltával	deltákkal
causal-final	deltáért	deltákért
translative	deltává	deltákká
terminative	deltáig	deltákig
essive-formal	deltaként	deltákként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	deltában	deltákban
superessive	deltán	deltákon
adessive	deltánál	deltáknál
illative	deltába	deltákba
sublative	deltára	deltákra
allative	deltához	deltákhoz
elative	deltából	deltákból
delative	deltáról	deltákról
ablative	deltától	deltáktól
non-attributive possessive - singular	deltáé	deltáké
non-attributive possessive - plural	deltáéi	deltákéi

Possessive forms of delta
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	deltám	deltáim
2nd person sing.	deltád	deltáid
3rd person sing.	deltája	deltái
1st person plural	deltánk	deltáink
2nd person plural	deltátok	deltáitok
3rd person plural	deltájuk	deltáik

• delta in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• delta in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

delta f (genitive singular deltu, nominative plural deltur)
delta n (genitive singular delta, nominative plural deltu)

1. delta (Greek letter)

From Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta).

• IPA^(key): [ˈdɛlta]
• Hyphenation: dèl‧ta

delta

1. delta,
   1. The fourth letter of the modern Greek alphabet Δ, δ.
   2. (geography) A landform at the mouth of a river where it empties into a body of water.

• “delta” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

From Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta).

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛl.ta/
• Rhymes: -ɛlta
• Hyphenation: dèl‧ta

delta m (invariable)

1. delta (all senses)

• ala a delta
• deltaplano

• dalet

delta f (4th declension)

1. delta (Greek letter)
2. delta (landform at the mouth of a river)

From Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta).

delta m (definite singular deltaen, indefinite plural deltaer, definite plural deltaene)

1. the Greek letter Δ, δ (delta)

delta n (definite singular deltaet, indefinite plural delta or deltaer, definite plural deltaene)

1. a river delta

• elvedelta

From del (“part”) + ta (“take”); i.e. to take (a) part in something; to partake in something.

delta (imperative delta, present tense deltar, passive deltas, simple past deltok, past participle deltatt, present participle deltakende)

1. to participate; to partake

• deltagelse, deltakelse
• deltager, deltaker

• “delta” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From del (“part”) + ta (“take”); i.e. to take (a) part in something.

• deltaka, deltake (long forms)

delta (present tense deltek or deltar, past tense deltok, past participle delteke or deltatt, passive infinitive delteken, present participle deltakande, imperative delta)

1. to participate

• deltakar

From Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta).

delta m (definite singular deltaen, indefinite plural deltaer or deltaar, definite plural deltaene or deltaane)

2. the Greek letter Δ, δ (delta)

A specialized use of delta (Etymology 2).

delta n (definite singular deltaet, indefinite plural delta, definite plural deltaa)

2. a river delta

• elvedelta

• “delta” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta), from Phoenician 𐤃 (d /⁠dalet⁠/).

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛl.ta/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlta
• Syllabification: del‧ta

delta f

1. delta (Greek letter Δ, δ)
2. (mathematics, colloquial) discriminant

   Synonym: wyróżnik

3. (geography) delta (landform at the mouth of a river)
4. (aeronautics) delta wing

• delta in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• delta in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Borrowed from Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta).

• Hyphenation: del‧ta

delta m (plural deltas)

1. delta (Greek letter)
2. delta (landform at the mouth of a river)

• asa-delta

From Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta).

• IPA^(key): /dêlta/
• Hyphenation: del‧ta

dȅlta f (Cyrillic spelling де̏лта)

1. delta, the Greek letter Δ, δ

Borrowed from Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta).

• IPA^(key): /ˈdelta/ [ˈd̪el̪.t̪a]
• Rhymes: -elta
• Syllabification: del‧ta

delta f (plural deltas)

1. Greek letter delta

delta m (plural deltas)

1. (geography) a delta

• “delta”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

Borrowed from English delta.

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

delta (n class, plural delta)

1. delta (landform at the mouth of a river)

From Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta).

delta n

1. the Greek letter Δ, δ (delta)
2. a river delta

From del (“part”) +‎ ta(ga) (“take”), i.e. to take part in something. Compare English partake.

• deltaga (dated)

• Audio:

  (file)

delta (present deltar, preterite deltog, supine deltagit, imperative delta)

1. to participate, to take part

   delta i en demonstration

   participate in a demonstration (protest march)

   1. to attend

      Han deltog i mötet

      He attended (took part in) the meeting

• deltagare

• delta in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• delta in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• delta in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

• delat, talde