upsilon

upsilon
[ʌp'sʌɪlən, ju:p-, 'ʊpsɪlɒn, 'ju:p-]
noun the twentieth letter of the Greek alphabet (Υ, υ), transliterated as ‘u’ or (chiefly in English words derived through Latin) as ‘y’.
Origin
Gk, lit. 'slender U', from psilos 'slender', referring to the need to distinguish upsilon from the diphthong oi: in late Gk the two had the same pronunciation.

English new terms dictionary. 2014.

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  • upsilon — [ ypsilɔn ] n. m. • 1872; gr. u psilon « u mince » ♦ Vingtième lettre de l alphabet grec (υ). ● upsilon nom masculin (grec u psilon, u simple) Vingtième lettre de l alphabet grec (Υ, υ). [Il est transcrit y dans les mots empruntés au grec :… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Upsilon — (uppercase Upsilon;, lowercase upsilon;; el. Ύψιλον) is the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 400. It is derived from the Phoenician waw. In early Greek it was pronounced like English oo, IPA2|u …   Wikipedia

  • Upsilon — Up si*lon, n. [Gr. y^ psilo n bare, mere, simple y.] The 20th letter ([Upsilon], [upsilon]) of the Greek alphabet, a vowel having originally the sound of [=oo] as in room, becoming before the 4th century b. c. that French u or Ger. [ u]. Its… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • upsilon — 20th letter of the Greek alphabet, 1640s, from Gk. u psilon, lit. a mere (or bare) u; so called in contradistinction to the diphthongs oi , ei , which are pronounced exactly like upsilon …   Etymology dictionary

  • úpsilon — s. m. Ver ípsilo. • [Brasil] Plural: upsílones ou úpsilons. • [Portugal] Plural: upsílones …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • upsilon — ► NOUN ▪ the twentieth letter of the Greek alphabet (Y, u), transliterated as ‘u’ or (chiefly in English words derived through Latin) as ‘y’. ORIGIN Greek, slender U …   English terms dictionary

  • upsilon — [o͞op′sə län΄, up′sə län΄] n. [LGr y psilon, lit., simple u (to distinguish from oi, of the same sound in LGr)] 1. the twentieth letter of the Greek alphabet (Y, υ) ☆ 2. any of a group of short lived elementary particles having a mass about ten… …   English World dictionary

  • Upsilon —  Ne doit pas être confondu avec Ʊ. Upsilon Graphies Capitale …   Wikipédia en Français

  • upsilon — /yoohp seuh lon , leuhn, up /; esp. Brit. /yoohp suy leuhn/, n. 1. the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet (Y). 2. the vowel sound represented by this letter. 3. Also called upsilon particle, Physics. any of a family of heavy, short lived, neutral… …   Universalium

  • Upsilon (disambiguation) — Upsilon or Ypsilon is a Greek letter.May refer to:*Lancia Ypsilon *Ypsilon (Scheme implementation) *Upsilon Acrux *Upsilon Andromedae, a solar system *Upsilon Aquarii *Upsilon Aquilae *Upsilon Aurigae *Upsilon Boötis *Upsilon Cancri *Upsilon… …   Wikipedia

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