Tau

/taʊ/ · noun

Meaning

The letter Τ /τ in the Greek alphabet; being the nineteenth letter of the Classical and Modern Greek, and the twenty-first letter of the Old and Ancient Greek alphabets..

Definitions by Sense

1. The letter Τ /τ in the Greek alphabet; being the nineteenth letter of the Classical and Modern Greek, and the twenty-first letter of the Old and Ancient Greek alphabets.
2. Alternative form of taw; the 22nd and last letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic.
3. A Τ-shaped object or sign; a Saint Anthony's cross, sometimes regarded as a sacred symbol.
4. The ankh symbol (☥).
5. (astronomy) Chiefly written τ: used to designate the nineteenth star (usually according to brightness) in a constellation.
6. (finance) A measurement of the sensitivity of the value of an option to changes in the implied volatility of the price of the underlying asset.
7. (mathematics, neologism) Chiefly written τ: an irrational and transcendental constant representing the ratio of the circumference of a Euclidean circle to its radius, equal to twice the value of pi (2π; approximately 6.2831853071).
8. (neurology) Ellipsis of tau protein (“a protein abundant especially in the neurons of the human central nervous system that stabilizes microtubules, and when misfolded is associated with forms of dementia such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases”).

Example Sentences

Hence it appears that the spits, or skewers, on which and to which the lamb was fixed and fastened in order to be roasted, assumed the form of a cross, not such a tau-cross as is engraved in Dr. Oliver’s Historical Landmarks of Freemasonry, vol. i. p. 80. having three arms only like the Greek letter tau; but a cross like the ancient Hebrew tau, with four arms, though not necessarily all of equal length.

In the Spanish translation of Sallust, by the Infant Don Gabriel in 1772, called the Infant Sallust, there is a curious dissertation by Father Perez Bayer on the resemblance between the ancient Hebrew and Phœnician alphabets, in which it is observed that the Hebrew Tau was written in pure Phœnician, […]

The tau is both the 19ᵗʰ letter of the Greek alphabet, and also the 22ⁿᵈ letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In this context, the Hebrew tau or tav is more pertinent.

Nor ſhall we take in the myſticall Tau, or the Croſſe of our bleſſed Saviour, which having in ſome deſcriptions an Empedon or croſſing foot-ſtay, made not one ſingle tranſverſion.

(includes a list of coordinate terms)

Quite what that job is remains obscure, but one theory is that it is to stabilise another protein called tau, which is supposed in turn to keep in shape the tubular ‘skeleton’ of a neuron.

Synonyms for tau

Antonyms for tau

Related Words

Word Forms

• taus

Usage Notes

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