Stigma (letter)

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Greek alphabet

Αα Alpha	Νν Nu
Ββ Beta	Ξξ Xi
Γγ Gamma	Οο Omicron
Δδ Delta	Ππ Pi
Εε Epsilon	Ρρ Rho
Ζζ Zeta	Σσς Sigma
Ηη Eta	Ττ Tau
Θθ Theta	Υυ Upsilon
Ιι Iota	Φφ Phi
Κκ Kappa	Χχ Chi
Λλ Lambda	Ψψ Psi
Μμ Mu	Ωω Omega
Obsolete letters
Digamma	Qoppa
San	Sampi

Greek diacritics

For other uses, see Stigma.

Stigma (uppercase Ϛ, lowercase ϛ) is a ligature of the Greek letters sigma and tau, sometimes used in modern times to represent the Greek numeral 6. However, today the letters στʹ (ΣΤʹ, if capitalised) are more widely used to represent the number 6 or the ordinal 6th.

Greek word στρατόν written with a sigma-tau ligature in a Byzantine manuscript

It is encoded in Unicode as "Greek letter stigma" U+03DA (Ϛ) and "Greek small letter stigma" U+03DB (ϛ). In modern typefaces, lowercase stigma is similar in appearance to final sigma (ς), but the top loop tends to be larger, and extends farther to the right. In historical handwriting, various other shapes existed.

'Stigma' is also a name for the cursive graphic form of the letter digamma when used as the Greek numeral 6. This name is a modern misunderstanding. The ligature of στ did not occur in ancient times and only dates to later medieval manuscripts. In Sophocles' Lexicon of Byzantine Greek, which covers late antique Greek up to 1000 AD, there is no mention of "stigma" as either a ligature or a number.