F

In physics, symbol for farad, the SI unit of capacitance equal to that of a capacitor with a potential difference of 1 volt between plates carrying a charge of 1 coulomb.

F

Sixth letter of the English alphabet. Its capital form has changed little from that of the earlier Semitic alphabets. The sound /f/ is an unvoiced labiodental fricative.

In the Semitic alphabet it had the sound /vw/, and was called waw. It became the Greek digamma, with the sound /w/. In some Greek dialects there was no need for this letter, and it was dropped, while another form of the Semitic waw became the Greek upsilon (Υ, υ). The digamma came to represent the sound /f/ in Latin. The Latin f was then adopted by all alphabets descended from the Roman.

In Welsh f is pronounced /v/; this was also the case in some Old English environments, as is still seen, for example, in the pronunciation of the word ‘of’.

f

In music, abbreviation for forte (loud).