Sigma

The shape (Σς) and alphabetic position of sigma is derived from the Phoenician letter (shin).

[2] Herodotus reports that "san" was the name given by the Dorians to the same letter called "sigma" by the Ionians.

[i][3] According to one hypothesis,[4] the name "sigma" may continue that of Phoenician samekh (), the letter continued through Greek xi, represented as Ξ. Alternatively, the name may have been a Greek innovation that simply meant 'hissing', from the root of σίζω (sízō, from Proto-Greek *sig-jō 'I hiss').

Today, it is known as lunate sigma (uppercase Ϲ, lowercase ϲ), because of its crescent-like shape, and is still widely used in decorative typefaces in Greece, especially in religious and church contexts, as well as in some modern print editions of classical Greek texts.

At that time a simplified three-stroke version, omitting the lowermost stroke, was already found in Western Greek alphabets, and was incorporated into classical Etruscan and Oscan, as well as in the earliest Latin epigraphy (early Latin S), such as the Duenos inscription.