delta

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: del=ta

OXFORD DICTIONARY

delta, n.
1 a triangular tract of deposited earth, alluvium, etc., at the mouth of a river, formed by its diverging outlets.
2 a the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. b a fourth-class mark given for a piece of work or in an examination.
3 Astron. the fourth star in a constellation.
4 Math. an increment of a variable.

Idiom

delta connection Electr. a triangular arrangement of three-phase windings with circuit wire from each angle. delta rays Physics rays of low penetrative power consisting of slow electrons ejected from an atom by the impact of ionizing radiation. delta rhythm (or wave) low-frequency electrical activity of the brain during sleep. delta wing the triangular swept-back wing of an aircraft.

Derivative

deltaic adj.

Etymology

ME f. Gk f. Phoen. daleth

THESAURUS

delta

V, alkali flat, alluvial plain, basin, bill, bottomland, branch, breakwater, bushveld, campo, cape, champaign, champaign country, chersonese, coastal plain, coral reef, crotch, crutch, desert, down, downs, fan, fell, flat, flat country, flatland, flats, foreland, fork, furcula, furculum, grass veld, grassland, groin, head, headland, heath, hook, inguen, lande, level, llano, lowland, lowlands, lunar mare, mare, mesa, mesilla, moor, moorland, mull, naze, ness, offshoot, open country, pampa, pampas, peneplain, peninsula, plain, plains, plateau, playa, point, prairie, promontory, prong, ramification, reef, salt flat, salt marsh, salt pan, sandspit, savanna, sebkha, spit, spur, stem, steppe, table, tableland, tongue, tree veld, trident, tundra, upland, vega, veld, weald, wide-open spaces, wishbone, wold

ROGET THESAURUS

delta

Land

N land, earth, ground, dry land, terra firma, continent, mainland, peninsula, chersonese, delta, tongue of land, neck of land, isthmus, oasis, promontory, highland, coast, shore, scar, strand, beach, playa, bank, lea, seaboard, seaside, seabank, seacoast, seabeach, ironbound coast, loom of the land, derelict, innings, alluvium, alluvion, ancon, riverbank, river bank, levee, soil, glebe, clay, loam, marl, cledge, chalk, gravel, mold, subsoil, clod, clot, rock, crag, acres, real estate, landsman, earthy, continental, midland, coastal, littoral, riparian, alluvial, terrene, landed, predial, territorial, geophilous, ripicolous, ashore, on shore, on land.