Upsilon Symbol
About Upsilon Symbol
υ is the Upsilon Symbol, the lowercase form of the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet (Υ / υ). The Upsilon Symbol υ is among the most common Greek letters in scientific and technical literature, frequently used for It appears less often on its own in physics, usually within special constants and particle symbols.
【Pronunciation】 In English, υ is most often pronounced UP-suh-lon (IPA: /ˈʌpsɪlən/). This is simply the anglicized name of the Greek letter.
The lowercase Upsilon Symbol υ is written as a distinct Greek glyph and is assigned codepoint U+03C5 in the Greek and Coptic Unicode block. In plain or sans-serif fonts it can be mistaken for the Latin letter u or v, so verify the typeface or context.
【Historical Origin】 Upsilon derives from the Phoenician letter waw and is one of the less common Greek vowels.
【Common Uses】 υ is highly active across disciplines: It appears less often on its own in physics, usually within special constants and particle symbols. It often appears alongside the uppercase Sigma Σ and lowercase Sigma σ in formulas, papers, and engineering drawings.
How to Type Upsilon Symbol
Windows Input
Method 1: Hold Alt and type 965 on the numeric keypad, then release Alt to get υ.
Mac Input
Method 2: Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search for 'greek' or 'Upsilon Symbol', then select υ.
HTML/CSS Input
Method 3: HTML: υ or υ or υ; CSS: content: "\03C5";
LaTeX Input
Method 4: Use the \upsilon command in LaTeX math mode to produce υ.
Upsilon Symbol FAQ
How is υ pronounced?
The English pronunciation of υ is UP-suh-lon (IPA: /ˈʌpsɪlən/). It is the anglicized name of the Greek letter, used directly rather than described as 'lowercase υ'.
What is the difference between υ and the Latin letter u or v?
υ (U+03C5) is a Greek lowercase letter, whereas u or v is a Latin letter; their codepoints and glyphs differ. In a proper typeface υ and u or v are clearly distinct, but in plain text or sans-serif fonts they can be confused, so rely on context.
How do I type υ in Word, web pages, and LaTeX?
On Windows use Alt+965 on the numeric keypad; on Mac open the Character Viewer and search 'greek' or 'Upsilon Symbol'; on the web use the HTML entity υ; in LaTeX use \upsilon. For bulk use, copy υ directly from this page.