Lambda symbol
Type :lambda: · Greek
Unicode name Greek Small Letter Lamda · Greek and Coptic block · added in Unicode 1.1, 1993
What λ is for
Wavelength in physics, an eigenvalue in linear algebra, and an anonymous function everywhere in programming, which it owes to Church’s lambda calculus. One letter carrying an unusual amount of freight.
How to type λ
The shortcuts below are the built-in routes. With
Emoji Anywhere
installed you can skip all of them and type
:lambda: in any text field instead, which
is the same on every platform.
macOS
No direct shortcut. Use Edit → Emoji & Symbols, or switch to the Unicode Hex
Input source and type 03BB with Option
held.
Windows
No Alt code. In Word, type 03BB then press Alt +
X. Elsewhere use the emoji panel with Win + Period, or Character Map.
Shortcodes
:lambda: On the web
HTML λ
Unicode U+03BB
JavaScript '\u{03BB}'
CSS "\03BB"
Python '\u03BB'
URL %CE%BB
More from greek
:alpha: β :beta: γ :gamma: δ :delta: ε :epsilon: θ :theta: μ :mu_micro: π :pi: σ :sigma: τ :tau: φ :phi: ψ :psi: Every symbol and kaomoji is in the full gallery .
Tired of copying λ from pages like this one?
That is exactly what the extension removes. Here is the whole interaction, in every text field you already use:
You type
You get
Your keyboard already knows what you mean
Free, 290 KB, no account. Two letters from now you will never open an emoji panel again.
