F
/ɛf/noun
The sixth letter of the English alphabet, representing primarily the voiceless labiodental fricative sound /f/.
Did you know?F ultimately descends from Phoenician waw, a symbol associated with a hook or peg, through the Greek letter digamma and the Latin alphabet.
Etymological Timeline
c. 1800 BCE
Proto-Sinaitic
𐤅
“A pictographic sign associated with a hook or peg”
c. 1050 BCE
Phoenician
waw
“A letter representing a /w/ sound, shaped from the earlier hook-like sign”
c. 800 BCE
Ancient Greek
Ϝ digamma
“A letter representing the /w/ sound, later dropped from the standard Greek alphabet”
c. 700 BCE
Etruscan
𐌅
“A borrowed form of Greek digamma used in the Etruscan writing system”
7th century BCE
Latin
F
“A letter adapted from Etruscan and used for the /f/ sound”
Modern English
English
F
“The sixth alphabetic letter, pronounced /ɛf/”