[del-tuh] 
| 1. | the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet (Δ, δ). |
| 2. | the consonant sound represented by this letter. |
| 3. | the fourth in a series of items. |
| 4. | anything triangular, like the Greek capital delta (Δ). |
| 5. | Mathematics. an incremental change in a variable, as Δ or δ. |
| 6. | a nearly flat plain of alluvial deposit between diverging branches of the mouth of a river, often, though not necessarily, triangular: the Nile delta. |
| 7. | (usually initial capital letter ) a word used in communications to represent the letter D. |
| 8. | (initial capital letter) Astronomy. a star that is usually the fourth brightest of a constellation: The fourth brightest star in the Southern Cross is Delta Crucis. |
[del-tuh] | the NATO name for a class of Soviet nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine armed with 16 multi-warhead missiles. |
| del·ta (děl'tə) n.
[Middle English, from Latin, from Greek, of Phoenician origin; see dl in Semitic roots.] del·ta'ic (-tā'ĭk), del'tic (-tĭk) adj. Word History: A Greek letter sits at the mouth of many rivers. Noticing the resemblance between the island formed by sediment at the mouth of a river such as the Nile and the triangular shape of their letter delta (Δ), the Greeks gave the name delta to such an island. English borrowed this sense from Greek, although the word delta appeared first in English as the name of the letter, in a work written possibly around 1200. The sense "alluvial deposit" is not recorded until 1555, when delta is used with reference to the Nile River delta. |
| Del·ta (děl'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 the earliest blues music. |
Delta
The ratio comparing the change in the price of the underlying asset to the corresponding change in the price of a derivative.
Investopedia Commentary
This is sometimes referred to as the hedge ratio. For example, with respect to call options, a delta of 0.7 means that for every dollar the underlying stock increases the call option will increase by $0.70.
Put option deltas on the other hand will be negative because, as the underlying security increases, the value of the option will decrease. So a put option with a delta of -0.7 will decrease by $0.70 for every $1.00 the underlying increases in price.
As an in-the-money call option nears expiration, it will approach a delta of 1.00, and as an in-the-money put option nears expiration, it will approach a delta of -1.00.
Related Links
Getting To Know The "Greeks"
Going Beyond Simple Delta: Understanding Position Delta
Capturing Profits with Position-Delta Neutral Trading
Options Basics Tutorial
See also: Call Option, Delta Hedging, Derivative, Expiration Date, Gamma, Greeks, In the Money, Out of the Money
delta
delta del·ta (děl'tə)
n.
Symbol δ, Δ The fourth letter of the Greek alphabet.
The fourth one in a series.
A surface or part that resembles a triangle, such as the terminus of a pattern in a fingerprint or the shape of a muscle.
Of or characterizing the atom or radical group that is fourth in position from the functional group of atoms in an organic molecule.
Of or relating to one of four closely related chemical substances.
Relating to or characterizing a polypeptide chain that is one of five types of heavy chains present in immunoglobins.
Delta language
1. An expression-based language developed by J.C. Cleaveland in 1978.
2. A string-processing language with single-character commands from Tandem Computers.
3. A language for system specification of simulation execution.
["System Description and the DELTA Language", E. Holback-Hansen et al, DELTA Proj Rep 4, Norweg Comput Ctr, Feb 1977].
4. A COBOL generating language produced by Delta Software Entwicklung GmbH.
(2000-08-02)
delta
1. A quantitative change, especially a small or incremental one (this use is general in physics and engineering). "I just doubled the speed of my program!" "What was the delta on program size?" "About 30 percent." (He doubled the speed of his program, but increased its size by only 30 percent.)
2. [Unix] A diff, especially a diff stored under the set of version-control tools called SCCS (Source Code Control System) or RCS (Revision Control System). See change management.
3. A small quantity, but not as small as epsilon. The jargon usage of delta and epsilon stems from the traditional use of these letters in mathematics for very small numerical quantities, particularly in "epsilon-delta" proofs in limit theory (as in the differential calculus). The term delta is often used, once epsilon has been mentioned, to mean a quantity that is slightly bigger than epsilon but still very small. "The cost isn't epsilon, but it's delta" means that the cost isn't totally negligible, but it is nevertheless very small. Common constructions include "within delta of ---", "within epsilon of ---": that is, "close to" and "even closer to".
[The Jargon File]
(2000-08-02)
