delta


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Related to delta: Delta Force

Del·ta

 (dĕl′tə)
An area of the south-central United States extending on either side of the Mississippi River from Memphis, Tennessee, to Vicksburg, Mississippi. An important cotton-producing region, it is noted for its folk culture, especially as the home of some of the earliest blues music.

click for a larger image
delta
satellite image of the
Nile River delta, Egypt

del·ta

 (dĕl′tə)
n.
1. The fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. See Table at alphabet.
2. An object shaped like a triangle.
3.
a. A usually triangular alluvial deposit at the mouth of a river.
b. A similar deposit at the mouth of a tidal inlet, caused by tidal currents.
4. Mathematics A finite increment in a variable.
adj. Chemistry
1. Being in the fourth position relative to a designated carbon atom in an organic molecule at which an atom or a group may be substituted.
2. Referring to the fourth of a group of isomers, or molecules of similar origin or properties, determined arbitrarily by those who discover or classify them. Used in combination.

[Middle English, from Latin, from Greek, of Phoenician origin; see dl in Semitic roots.]

del·ta′ic (-tā′ĭk), del′tic (-tĭk) adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

delta

(ˈdɛltə)
n
1. (Letters of the Alphabet (Foreign)) the fourth letter in the Greek alphabet (Δ, δ), a consonant transliterated as d
2. an object resembling a capital delta in shape
3. (Physical Geography) (capital when part of name) the flat alluvial area at the mouth of some rivers where the mainstream splits up into several distributaries: the Mississippi Delta.
4. (Mathematics) maths a finite increment in a variable
[C16: via Latin from Greek, of Semitic origin; compare Hebrew dāleth]
deltaic, ˈdeltic adj

Delta

(ˈdɛltə)
n
1. (Celestial Objects) (foll by the genitive case of a specified constellation) usually the fourth brightest star in a constellation
2. (Astronautics) any of a group of US launch vehicles used to put unmanned satellites into orbit
3. (Communications & Information) communications a code word for the letter d

Delta

(ˈdɛltə)
n
(Placename) a state of Nigeria, on the Niger river delta on the Gulf of Guinea. Capital: Asaba. Pop: 4 098 391 (2006). Area: 17 698 sq km (6833 sq miles)
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

del•ta

(ˈdɛl tə)

n., pl. -tas.
1. the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet (Δ, δ).
2. the fourth in a series of items.
3. anything triangular, like the Greek capital delta (Δ).
4. Math. an incremental change in a variable, as Δ or δ.
5. a nearly flat plain of alluvial, often triangular, deposit between diverging branches of the mouth of a river.
6. (cap.) a star that is usu. the fourth brightest of a constellation: Delta Crucis.
[1350–1400; Middle English < Latin < Greek délta; akin to Hebrew dāleth]
del•ta′ic (-ˈteɪ ɪk) adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

del·ta

(dĕl′tə)
A usually triangular mass of sediment, especially silt and sand, deposited at the mouth of a river. Deltas form when a river flows into a body of standing water, such as a sea or lake.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

delta

Flat, alluvial land at a river mouth where it splits into many streams called distributaries.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.delta - a low triangular area of alluvial deposits where a river divides before entering a larger body of waterdelta - a low triangular area of alluvial deposits where a river divides before entering a larger body of water; "the Mississippi River delta"; "the Nile delta"
alluvial deposit, alluvial sediment, alluvium, alluvion - clay or silt or gravel carried by rushing streams and deposited where the stream slows down
geological formation, formation - (geology) the geological features of the earth
2.delta - an object shaped like an equilateral triangle
equiangular triangle, equilateral triangle - a three-sided regular polygon
3.delta - the 4th letter of the Greek alphabet
Greek alphabet - the alphabet used by ancient Greeks
alphabetic character, letter of the alphabet, letter - the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech; "his grandmother taught him his letters"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
دِلْتا ، دال النَّهْر
delta
delta
Dora
Daavid
delta
óseyri
delta
deltaupes delta
delta

delta

[ˈdeltə] N
1. (Geog) → delta m
2. (= letter) → delta f
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

delta

[ˈdɛltə] n [river] → delta mDelta Force n (US)Force f Delta forces spéciales de l'armée américaine
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

delta

nDelta nt

delta

:
delta ray
n (Phys) → Deltastrahl m
delta rhythm, delta wave
n (Physiol) → Deltawelle f
delta wing
n (Aviat) → Deltaflügel m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

delta

[ˈdɛltə] ndelta m inv
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

delta

(ˈdeltə) noun
a roughly triangular area of land formed at the mouth of a river which reaches the sea in two or more branches. the delta of the Nile.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
His firm lips met like the lips of a vice; the Delta of his forehead's veins swelled like overladen brooks; in his very sleep, his ringing cry ran through the vaulted hull, Stern all!
Barth; the Lower Senegal, according to Guillaume Lejean; and the Delta of the Niger, by Dr.
The room, or rather garret, in which Molly lay, being up one pair of stairs, that is to say, at the top of the house, was of a sloping figure, resembling the great Delta of the Greeks.
Mihalic replaces Gary Hammes, who has taken a new leadership role in Delta Air Lines Technical Operations and is serving on the Board of Directors for Delta Private Jets to allow for a smooth transition.
The three Senatorial districts are Delta Central, Delta South and Delta North.
Five interactive digital screens with individual receivers are now featured at the redesigned Delta Sky Assist so customers can connect face-to-face with Delta specialists.
Most of the world's major river deltas are sinking, increasing their vulnerability to severe storms and floods, new satellite studies find.
Delta Air Lines to Open New City Ticket Office in Kuwait City and Offers Special Fare on New Nonstop Service between Kuwait City and Atlanta, USA
The purchase price is 3.2 times Delta's trailing 2004 revenue of $85.2 million and 26.1 times Delta's trailing net income of $10.4 million.
Immunologist Laure Aurelian of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore says it isn't clear whether the new vaccine represents an improvement over Delta PK, which has also outperformed virus-protein and DNA-based herpes vaccines by eliciting antibody and T cell responses.
After investigating the massacre of hundreds of African Americans in Elaine, Arkansas in 1921, William Pickens, a field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), dubbed the Mississippi River Valley, which included the town of Elaine, the "Congo of America." Pickens recognized that the brutal treatment that African American laborers suffered at the hands of whites in the Arkansas and Mississippi Delta was on par with the ruthless treatment Congolese laborers endured under Belgian King Leopold II in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.