Typing Greek letters on your computer

Greek alphabet

The Greek alphabet is incredibly old. It has been used since the 9th century BC, which makes it the oldest script with different symbols for vowels and consonants used today. As well as being the foundation of the modern Greek language, Greek letters are used in a wide variety of different areas, many of them academic.

Nowadays, there are many different circumstances where you might find yourself needing to type a Greek word or two.

Greek letters in mathematics

In mathematics and other scientific fields, Greek letters are used as symbols for constants, special functions, and certain variables. For example, the letter alpha represents the first angle in a triangle; beta represents the second angle; and gamma represents the third.

Other Greek letters that are commonly used in mathematics include delta, epsilon, zeta, and lambda.

Greek letters and classical and religious studies

When you're studying classical literature, philosophy or religion, you will often come across Greek words and phrases. If you're writing an essay or a research paper, there will be occasions when you'll want to refer to Greek writers, philosophers or concepts by their original name.

For religious studies, certain Greek phrases are also commonly used.

Greek letters and fraternities and sororities

In the USA, fraternities and sororities are commonly known as social organisations for students at higher education institutions. With very few exceptions, the names of these organizations consist of two or three Greek letters, and the members are known as Greeks. Well known examples of fraternities include Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Phi, and Delta Phi.

The first sororities to use Greek letter names were Kappa Alpha Theta and Kappa Kappa Gamma.

Greek letters for personal use

Maybe you've been to Greece on a holiday, and want to try writing a few Greek words on your computer? Perhaps you have a Greek friend or family member, and want to surprise them by sending a letter with their name written in Greek? Or maybe you're hosting a Greek night at home and want to create a menu with the dishes written in Greek? In today's international world, there are countless reasons why somebody might want to type Greek letters. What is the easiest way of typing a few Greek letters or words? PopChar. This easy, user-friendly character map lets you insert Greek letters with a quick mouse click - and it works with all your applications. Whenever you need a Greek character, PopChar is there to help. Click the little "P" box in the system tray to display a table of characters. Select the desired Greek letter or character and it instantly appears in your document. No more memorizing keystrokes!

PopChar is useful for other things too! You can insert characters for many other foreign languages, Unicode, HTML and more, and it is easy and intuitive to use.

Read more about the Mac version or the Windows version of PopChar here.