Definition of delta

The word "delta" originates from the Greek letter delta (Δ), which represents the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the context of geography, the term "delta" was first used by the Greek philosopher Aristotle in the 4th century BCE. Aristotle described the Nile River's fan-shaped deposit of mud and sand as a "delta" due to its resemblance to the Greek letter ∆. During the Renaissance, the term "delta" was revived and adopted in European languages to describe any similar geological formation, such as the Mississippi River's delta. The term has since been widely used in many languages to refer to a region where a river empties into a larger body of water, such as an ocean or lake, and deposits sediment in a triangular or fan-shaped pattern.