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delta

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Delta is defined as the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet.

(noun)

An example of delta is the fifth Metaphysics book by Aristotle.

The definition of a delta is a triangle shaped sand, clay or silt deposit at the mouth of a river.

(noun)

An example of a delta is where the Nile River drains into the Mediterranean Sea.

See delta in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet (Δ, δ)
something in the shape of a delta (Δ); specif., a tract of flat land, usually triangular, formed by deposits of soil and sand at the mouth of a large river

Origin: L < Gr delta, of Sem orig., as in Heb dāleth, 4th letter of the alphabet, lit., door

adjective

of, in, or from the Delta: Delta blues
Chem. see alpha

Related Forms:

deltaic adjective

See delta in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

The fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. See Table at alphabet.
An object shaped like a triangle.
a. A usually triangular alluvial deposit at the mouth of a river.
b. A similar deposit at the mouth of a tidal inlet, caused by tidal currents.
Mathematics A finite increment in a variable.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English

Origin: , from Latin

Origin: , from Greek

Origin: , of Phoenician origin; see dl in Semitic roots

Related Forms:

del·taˈic (-tāˈĭk), delˈtic (-tĭk) adjective

Word History: A Greek letter sits at the mouth of many rivers. Noticing the resemblance between the island formed by sediment at the mouth of a river such as the Nile and the triangular shape of their letter delta (Δ), the Greeks gave the name delta to such an island. English borrowed this sense from Greek, although the word delta appeared first in English as the name of the letter, in a work written possibly around 1200. The sense “alluvial deposit” is not recorded until 1555, when delta is used with reference to the Nile River delta.

An area of the south-central United States extending on either side of the Mississippi River from Memphis, Tennessee, to Vicksburg, Mississippi. An important cotton-producing region, it is noted for its folk culture, especially as the home of the earliest blues music.

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