λάβδα

Ancient Greek

previous letter κάππα		following letter μῦ
Λ λ – English: lambda

Alternative forms

λάμβδα (lámbda)

Etymology

Borrowed from Phoenician 𐤋 (l‬ /⁠lāmed⁠/).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /láb.da/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈlab.da/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈlaβ.ða/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈlav.ða/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈlav.ða/

Noun

λᾰ́βδᾰ • (lắbdă) n (indeclinable)

lambda, the name for the eleventh letter Λ, λ of the Ancient Greek alphabet.
- 391 BCE, Aristophanes, Assemblywomen 920
- 446 BCE – 411 BCE, Eupolis, Collected Works 359
- 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Cratylus 434c
- 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 514b.18
- 250 CE – 350 CE, Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 10.453d
- 110 BCE – 35 BCE, Philodemus, On Poems 2
- 110 BCE – 35 BCE, Philodemus, Fragments 42

Synonyms

(lambda): λάλ (lál) (Koine Greek)

Derived terms

λαβδᾰκισμός (labdăkismós)
λαβδοειδής (labdoeidḗs)
λάβδωμα (lábdōma)

Descendants

Greek: λάμδα (lámda)

References

“λάβδα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press