Concept

Lambda

Overview

Lambda ( ; uppercase Λ, lowercase λ; Greek: λάμ(β)δα, lám(b)da; Ancient Greek: λά(μ)βδα, lá(m)bda), sometimes rendered lamda, labda or lamma, is the eleventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiced alveolar lateral approximant IPA: [l]; it derives from the Phoenician letter Lamed, and gave rise to Latin L and Cyrillic El (Л). In the system of Greek numerals, lambda has a value of 30. The ancient grammarians typically called it λάβδα (lắbdă, [lábda]) in Classical Greek times, whereas in Modern Greek it is λάμδα (lámda, [ˈlamða]), while the spelling λάμβδα (lámbda) was used (to varying degrees) throughout the lengthy transition between the two.

In early Greek alphabets, the shape and orientation of lambda varied. Most variants consisted of two straight strokes, one longer than the other, connected at their ends. The angle might be in the upper-left, lower-left ("Western" alphabets) or top ("Eastern" alphabets). Other variants had a vertical line with a horizontal or sloped stroke running to the right. With the general adoption of the Ionic alphabet, Greek settled on an angle at the top; the Romans put the angle at the lower-left.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

In the original texts

Passages from public-domain books where Lambda is discussed.

Again, the solution may depend upon accent or breathing. Thus Hippias of Thasos solved the difficulties in the lines,--{delta iota delta omicron mu epsilon nu (delta iota delta omicron mu epsilon nu) delta epsilon / omicron iota,} and { tau omicron / mu epsilon nu / omicron upsilon (omicron upsilon) kappa alpha tau alpha pi upsilon theta epsilon tau alpha iota / omicron mu beta rho omega}. Or again, the question may…
Aristotle, The Poetics of Aristotle
states what it is; names the idea
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In M there is the direction of {beta} and in N there is the direction of {alpha}. But M and N, being moments of different time-systems, intersect in a level. Call this level {lambda}. Then {lambda} is an instantaneous plane in the instantaneous space of M and also in the instantaneous space of N. It is the locus of all the event-particles which lie both in M and in N. In the instantaneous space of M the level…
Alfred North Whitehead, The Concept of Nature The Tarner Lectures Delivered in Trinity College, November 1919
names the idea
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And he is the God who presides over harmony, and makes all things move together, both among Gods and among men. And as in the words akolouthos and akoitis the alpha is substituted for an omicron, so the name Apollon is equivalent to omopolon; only the second lambda is added in order to avoid the ill-omened sound of destruction (apolon).
Plato, Cratylus
states what it is; names the idea
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3. Both the aorta and the great vein continue as far as the kidney each as a single duct; from this point they are more closely united to the spinal column, and are each divided into two parts, like the letter lambda (Λ), and the great vein is placed farther back than the aorta. The aorta is more closely united to the spinal column, near the heart, and the junction is formed by small sinewy veins. 4. The aorta…
Aristotle, Aristotle's History of Animals In Ten Books
opens on it; names the idea
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First of all, languages are by this simplification rendered more prolix, several words having become necessary to express what could have been expressed by a single word before. Thus the words, _Dei_ and _Deo_, in the Latin, sufficiently show, without any addition, what relation the object signified is understood to stand in to the objects expressed by the other words in the sentence. But to express the same…
Adam Smith, The Essays of Adam Smith
states what it is
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Related ideas

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Part of Greek language.

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