tau

/taʊ/
noun
  1. The 19th letter of the Greek alphabet (Τ, τ).
    • She wrote a lowercase tau on the board to represent the variable.
    • In fraternity names, tau is a common letter, as in Tau Kappa Epsilon.
    • The Greek letter tau is often used in mathematics to represent time constants.
  2. A symbol used in physics and mathematics for various quantities, such as torque, shear stress, or time constant.
    • The time constant of an RC circuit is denoted by the Greek letter tau.
    • Engineers use tau to calculate shear stress in materials.
    • In physics, tau often represents torque in rotational motion equations.
What does "tau" mean? | whatsthatwordmean | whatsthatwordmean