Greek letter

English

Adjective

Greek letter (not comparable)

1. (US) Alternative spelling of Greek-letter
   • 1918, Kappa Alpha Theta, volume 33, page 358:

     Each Friday we held open house at the Young Women's Christian association for all Greek letter women who could come (if but for an hour) to sew for the French orphans.

   • 1928, Balfour Blue Book‎^[1], page 2:

     The following national Greek letter fraternities and sororities, served officially by this Company, were listed in our 1927 Blue Book...

   • 1934, Kappa Sigma Fraternity, Caduceus, page 500:

     Other Greek letter house fires of importance here include the burning of the Pi Kappa Alpha house in the Christmas holidays of 1924 and the burning of the roof and second floor of the Delta Zeta house in the Spring of 1926.

Usage notes

• The term Greek letter may be used to describe fraternities and sororities generally, and honor societies in some cases, irrespective of whether the name of the organization actually contains letters of the Greek alphabet.

Noun

Greek letter (plural Greek letters)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see Greek,‎ letter. A letter of the Greek alphabet.
   • 1952 September, Norman Crump, “Camden Town Signalbox, London Transport”, in Railway Magazine, page 585:

     Alternatively, they clear when the line is unoccupied to the next signal and when an approaching train occupies a short, normally de-energised, track circuit on the approach side of any of the signals. These normally de-energised track circuits are labelled with a Greek letter to emphasise their difference from the normal track circuits, and are short enough to ensure an adequate restriction of speed being imposed on the train.