WordPlay: Greek and Hebrew Letter Names
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Among the many Spelling Bee words related to words and language are the names of some letters from the Greek and Hebrew alphabets.
There are 24 letters in the Greek alphabet. Eleven (11) of these are Bee-eligible, each being at least four letters long and including neither S or the combination of E+R.*
There are 23 letters or characters in the Hebrew alphabet. Eleven (11) of these are Bee-eligible, being at least four letters long, and having neither S or E+R.*
(The Spelling Bee has never included any words that contain both E and R, and the letter S appears so rarely in the Bee (read more HERE) that it can be considered exclusionary.)
All eleven of the Bee-eligible Greek letter names have meanings as words in English outside their designations as letters in the Greek alphabet. Only four of the eleven Bee-eligible Hebrew letter names (aleph, beth, gimel, daleth) have meanings as words in English outside their designations as letters of the Hebrew alphabet (all in mathematics). Perhaps Greek letter-words are more common as English words than the Hebrew letter-words? It could be a factor in the selection or non-selection of these words for the Bee, though we cannot know for sure.
The transliterations (which are always a known hazard) are from Merriam-Webster.
Here’s a summary of the Spelling Bee’s inclusion – or exclusion – of these words (as of June 19, 2026).
There are 24 letters in the Greek alphabet. Eleven (11) of these are Bee-eligible, each being at least four letters long and including neither S or the combination of E+R.*
There are 23 letters or characters in the Hebrew alphabet. Eleven (11) of these are Bee-eligible, being at least four letters long, and having neither S or E+R.*
(The Spelling Bee has never included any words that contain both E and R, and the letter S appears so rarely in the Bee (read more HERE) that it can be considered exclusionary.)
All eleven of the Bee-eligible Greek letter names have meanings as words in English outside their designations as letters in the Greek alphabet. Only four of the eleven Bee-eligible Hebrew letter names (aleph, beth, gimel, daleth) have meanings as words in English outside their designations as letters of the Hebrew alphabet (all in mathematics). Perhaps Greek letter-words are more common as English words than the Hebrew letter-words? It could be a factor in the selection or non-selection of these words for the Bee, though we cannot know for sure.
The transliterations (which are always a known hazard) are from Merriam-Webster.
Here’s a summary of the Spelling Bee’s inclusion – or exclusion – of these words (as of June 19, 2026).
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LETTERS OF THE GREEK ALPHABET IN THE SPELLING BEE
There are 24 letters in the Greek alphabet.
11 of the words representing those letters (shown here in BOLD ) are Bee-eligible, each being at least four letters long and including neither S or the combination of E+R.
11 of the words representing those letters (shown here in BOLD ) are Bee-eligible, each being at least four letters long and including neither S or the combination of E+R.
ALPHABETAGAMMADELTAEPSILONZETAETATHETAIOTAKAPPALAMBDAMU
NUXIOMICRONPIRHOSIGMATAUUPSILONPHICHIPSIOMEGA
Of the 11 Bee-eligible Greek letter names, 10 have appeared in the spelling Bee:
ALPHA: always includedBETA: always includedGAMMA: always includedDELTA: always includedZETA: always includedTHETA: always includedIOTA: always includedKAPPA: always includedOMICRON: always includedOMEGA: always included LAMBDA: never possible; there has never been a letter set + center letter to support its selection
ALPHA: always includedBETA: always includedGAMMA: always includedDELTA: always includedZETA: always includedTHETA: always includedIOTA: always includedKAPPA: always includedOMICRON: always includedOMEGA: always included LAMBDA: never possible; there has never been a letter set + center letter to support its selection
LETTERS OF THE HEBREW ALPHABET IN THE SPELLING BEE
There are 23 letters or characters in the Hebrew alphabet.
11 of the words representing those letters (shown here in BOLD) are Bee-eligible, each being at least four letters long and including neither S or the combination of E+R.
11 of the words representing those letters (shown here in BOLD) are Bee-eligible, each being at least four letters long and including neither S or the combination of E+R.
ALEPHBETHGIMELDALETHHEWAWZAYINHETHTETHYODKAPHLAMED
MEMNUNSAMEKHAYINPESADHEQOPHRESHSINSHINTAW
Of the 11 Bee-eligible Hebrew letter names, 2 have appeared in the Spelling Bee:
ALEPH: always includedLAMED: always included (probably as past tense of verb “to lame”)
BETH: always excludedGIMEL: always excludedDALETH: always excludedZAYIN: always excludedHETH: always excludedTETH: always excludedKAPH: always excludedAYIN: always excluded QOPH: never possible; there has never been a letter set + center letter to support its selection
BETH: always excludedGIMEL: always excludedDALETH: always excludedZAYIN: always excludedHETH: always excludedTETH: always excludedKAPH: always excludedAYIN: always excluded QOPH: never possible; there has never been a letter set + center letter to support its selection