Greek Alphabet Copy and Paste

About the Greek Alphabet

What is the Greek alphabet?

The Greek alphabet is the 24-letter script of the Greek language, from alpha (α) to omega (ω).

Greeks adapted it from the Phoenician alphabet and have written with it since the late 9th or early 8th century BC. The Greek alphabet was the first known to write vowels systematically. Its 24-letter form became standard across the Greek world by the end of the 4th century BC.

Latin and Cyrillic both descend from it, which is why A, B and E look alike in all three.

In Unicode, each letter is its own character in the Greek and Coptic block, so a pasted α is real text, not an image.

What are the 24 Greek letters in order?

The first 12 letters are alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa, lambda and mu. The last 12 are nu, xi, omicron, pi, rho, sigma, tau, upsilon, phi, chi, psi and omega.

The pronunciation column gives the usual American way to say each name, following Merriam-Webster. British speakers often say BEE-tuh, EE-tuh and THEE-tuh for beta, eta and theta.

The Latin column follows the Library of Congress romanization, so η becomes ē and ω becomes ō.

How to type Greek letters on a keyboard

Most keyboards have no Greek keys, so copying a letter from the grid is the quickest route.

To type Greek often, add the Greek layout in the Windows or macOS settings. It puts most letters on the Latin key with the same sound or shape, while θ sits on U, ξ on J, ψ on C, ω on V and final sigma (ς) on W.

On that layout, the semicolon key is a dead key for the accent. Press it, then a vowel, for ά. For ϊ, press Shift and the semicolon key, then the key for iota.

• Windows Alt codes. Hold Alt and type the number on the numeric keypad. On US English Windows, Alt+224 gives α, Alt+227 gives π, Alt+228 gives Σ and Alt+234 gives Ω. These codes come from the US DOS code page, so other setups can type different characters.
• Mac shortcuts (US layout). Option+P types π and Option+Z types Ω. Option+J, Option+W and Option+M give ∆ (increment), ∑ (summation) and µ (micro sign), not Greek letters.
• Word for Windows. Type a code point such as 03B8 and press Alt+X for θ. In an equation (Alt+=), type \alpha and a space for α.
• Phones. Add Greek as a keyboard language in the settings on iPhone or Android.

How to write Greek letters in HTML and LaTeX

HTML has a named entity for all 24 letters, and LaTeX has a command for most.

In HTML, α gives α and Ω gives Ω. The same pattern covers every uppercase and lowercase letter, plus ς for final sigma (ς).

In LaTeX math mode, \alpha gives α and \Delta gives Δ. Standard LaTeX has no \Alpha, \Beta or \omicron, because those letters look like Latin A, B and o. Write \mathrm{A} for an upright uppercase alpha, and a plain o for omicron.

Epsilon and phi each have two LaTeX commands. \epsilon draws the lunate ϵ and \phi the straight ϕ, so use \varepsilon and \varphi for ε and φ. Word's equation editor does the reverse, so there \epsilon gives ε and \phi gives φ.

Why does sigma have two lowercase forms?

Greek writes lowercase sigma as σ inside a word and as ς at the end of one.

In σοφός, the Greek word for wise, the first letter is σ and the last is ς. Both forms share the uppercase Σ. In math and science, σ is the usual form, as in σ for standard deviation.

Which characters look like Greek letters but aren't?

Some math symbols, unit signs and Latin letters copy the shape of a Greek letter but are separate characters.

• µ micro sign (U+00B5). Kept from the Latin-1 character set for the micro prefix. Unicode says Greek text should use only μ (U+03BC).
• Ohm sign (U+2126). Unicode treats it as a duplicate of Ω (U+03A9) and discourages it, so use Ω for ohms too.
• ∆, ∑ and ∏. Math operators shaped like Δ, Σ and Π, with their own code points, U+2206, U+2211 and U+220F.
• ∂ partial differential. The partial derivative symbol, close in shape to δ but a separate character.
• Latin capitals. Greek Α, Β, Ε and Η look exactly like Latin letters but have different code points, so a word typed with the wrong one won't match a search.

What do Greek symbols mean in math and science?

Greek letters stand for constants, variables and units across math, physics and statistics.

The same letter can mean different things in different fields, so the table gives a common use for each. The names are Unicode's own, which is why λ appears as lamda.

Common mistakes

These mistakes are easy to make when you copy or type Greek letters.

• Using ϕ in Greek words. ϕ (U+03D5) is the phi symbol, which Unicode reserves for math formulas. Greek text uses φ (U+03C6).
• Typing Alt+225 for beta. On English Windows, Alt+225 gives ß, the German sharp s, and no standard Alt code gives β, so copy it from the grid.
• Reading letters by their Latin look-alikes. ρ is rho, not p; η is eta, not n; ν is nu, not v; and χ is chi, not x.

Common Use Cases

People copy Greek letters for math, science, fraternity and sorority names, and code.

• Homework and reports. Variables like θ and λ, and constants like π, in documents and emails.
• Fraternities and sororities. Chapter letters in bios, shirts and event posts.
• Code. JavaScript and Python accept Greek letters in variable names, so const π = Math.PI; is valid JavaScript.
• Greek words. Accented letters like ά and έ for names and phrases in Modern Greek.

For math operators like ≤, ∑ and ∞, see our math symbols page. The HTML entities reference lists named codes for 1,511 characters, and the text symbols page links every symbol collection on the site.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many letters are in the Greek alphabet?

Greek has 24 letters, from alpha (α) to omega (ω). Older Greek also had digamma (ϝ) and koppa (ϙ), which dropped out of the alphabet.

What is the last letter of the Greek alphabet?

Omega (Ω ω) is the 24th and last Greek letter. That is why alpha and omega stand for the first and the last.

What is Ω in Greek?

Ω is the uppercase omega, and ω is its lowercase form. In physics, Ω is also the symbol for the ohm, the unit of electrical resistance.

Is ∂ a Greek letter?

No, ∂ is the partial derivative symbol, named PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL in Unicode. It looks like a lowercase delta (δ), but it is a separate math character.

What does the delta symbol (Δ) mean?

Δ, the uppercase delta, usually means a change in a value, as in Δx for a change in x. The lowercase δ often marks a very small change.

What is the difference between mu (μ) and the micro sign (µ)?

μ (U+03BC) is the Greek letter mu, and µ (U+00B5) is the micro sign from Latin-1. They look the same but are different characters, so a search for one can miss the other.

How do you type the pi symbol?

Press Alt+227 on US English Windows or Option+P on a US-layout Mac to type π. In HTML, write π, and in LaTeX, \pi.