Editing Theta (section)

==Forms==
In its [[Archaic Greek alphabets|archaic]] form, θ was written as a cross within a circle (as in the Etruscan [[Image:Earth symbol.svg|16px|A symbol of a cross within a circle]] or [[Image:Cross within circle 2.svg|16px|Another symbol of a cross within a circle]]), and later, as a line or point in circle ([[File:Circled dash.svg|16px|The symbol of a line within a circle]] or [[Image:Sun symbol.svg|16px|The symbol of a point within a circle]]).
[[File:Theta_lc_variant.svg|thumb|right|75px|Greek theta variant in cursive form.]]

The cursive form {{not a typo|ϑ}} was retained by [[Unicode]] as {{unichar|03D1|GREEK THETA SYMBOL}}, separate from {{unichar|03B8|GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA}}. (There is also {{unichar|03F4|GREEK CAPITAL THETA SYMBOL}}.) For the purpose of writing Greek text, the two can be font variants of a single character, but {{not a typo|θ and ϑ}} are also used as distinct symbols in technical and mathematical contexts. Extensive lists of examples follow below at Mathematics and Science. {{unichar|03D1|GREEK THETA SYMBOL|note=script theta}} is also common in biblical and theological usage e.g. {{not a typo|πρόϑεσις (prothesis)}} instead of πρόθεσις (means placing in public or laying out a corpse).