T
/tiː/noun
The twentieth letter of the English alphabet, also used as a symbol in various scientific and cultural contexts.
Did you know?The Phoenician ancestor of T was called taw, meaning “mark,” and its cross-like form later became the Greek letter tau, a symbol sometimes associated with the tau cross.
Etymological Timeline
2nd millennium BCE
Proto-Sinaitic
𐤕-like sign
“A mark or cross-shaped sign, probably representing a consonant sound.”
c. 1050 BCE
Phoenician
𐤕 taw
“The letter taw, meaning “mark” or “sign.””
Ancient Greek
Greek
ταῦ (tau)
“The Greek letter tau, representing the /t/ sound.”
7th–1st centuries BCE
Latin
T
“The Latin letter T, inherited from Greek tau.”
Old English
Old English
t
“The letter used for the /t/ sound in Old English writing.”
Modern English
English
T
“The twentieth letter of the English alphabet, pronounced “tee.””