SymbolHub

Kappa Symbol (κ)

The kappa symbol κ is Unicode U+03BA, the tenth letter of the Greek alphabet. Press Copy to put it on your clipboard.

Unicode
U+03BA
HTML
κ
Word
03BA Alt+X

How to type the kappa symbol (κ)

The quickest way is to press Copy above and paste. To type κ yourself, use the method for your device below.

Windows

  1. In Word or Outlook, type 03BA and press Alt + X. Alt + X converts the hex code before the cursor into the character, and back again.
  2. Press Win + R, type charmap and press Enter. Tick “Advanced view”, search for Greek Small Letter Kappa, then Select and Copy. Character Map is built into every version of Windows.

Mac

  1. Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search for kappa and double-click it.
  2. With the Unicode Hex Input keyboard enabled (System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources), hold Option and type 03BA.

Linux & ChromeOS

  1. Press Ctrl + Shift + U, type 3ba, then press Enter or Space. Works in GTK and IBus apps (GNOME, Firefox, Chrome, LibreOffice) and on ChromeOS.

iPhone & iPad

  1. Copy κ from this page, then go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement and add it with a shortcut such as ;kapp. The shortcut then turns into the symbol as you type, in every app.

Android

  1. Copy κ here, then open Gboard settings → Dictionary → Personal dictionary and add it with a shortcut.

Microsoft Word

  1. Type 03BA, then press Alt + X.
  2. Insert → Symbol → More Symbols. Set “from” to Unicode (hex), type 03BA in “Character code” and click Insert.

Google Docs

  1. Insert → Special characters, then search for “kappa” or draw it in the box.

Excel & Google Sheets

  1. Enter =UNICHAR(954) in a cell. It works in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.

HTML

  1. Write κ or κ in your HTML.

What does κ mean?

Kappa (κ, capital Κ) is the tenth Greek letter, pronounced “KAP-uh”. It is the ancestor of the Latin K. Statisticians know it from Cohen’s kappa, a measure of agreement between two raters, and physicists use κ for thermal conductivity and curvature. On Twitch, “Kappa” is a famous sarcasm emote, and many US fraternities carry the letter in their names (ΚΣ, ΚΑ).

Common uses

  • Research: inter-rater agreement κ = 0.81
  • Heat transfer: κ in W/(m·K)
  • Geometry: the curvature κ of a curve

Kappa Symbol codes for HTML, CSS and programming

Every code below produces κ. Use the HTML entity in web pages, the CSS escape in content, and the escape sequence in source code.

Unicode code pointU+03BA
HTML entity (named)κ
HTML decimalκ
HTML hexκ
CSS contentcontent: "\3BA";
JavaScript"\u03BA"
Python"\u03BA"
Python (by name)"\N{GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA}"
Java / C#"\u03BA"
LaTeX\kappa
UTF-8 bytesCE BA
UTF-1603BA
URL encoded%CE%BA

κ vs look-alike characters

These characters look similar to κ but have a different meaning and code. Pasting the wrong one can break search, sorting and screen readers.

CharNameWhen to use it
K
U+006B		The Latin small letter k, which has a taller ascender.
Greek Kappa Symbol
U+03F0		Greek kappa symbol (U+03F0), a cursive variant used in some maths fonts.

Symbols similar to κ

Click to copy, or open a symbol for its codes. See the full greek letters collection.

κ character properties

Official Unicode name
GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA
Also known as
kappa, greek letter kappa
Code point
U+03BA
Unicode block
Greek and Coptic (U+0370–U+03FF)
General category
Lowercase letter (Ll)
Added in
Unicode 1.1 (1993)
Plane
Basic Multilingual Plane (0)
Emoji
No, it is a text symbol

Frequently asked questions

What is Cohen’s kappa?

A statistic, written κ, that measures how much two raters agree beyond what chance would produce. 1 is perfect agreement and 0 is no better than chance.

Is there an alt code for the kappa symbol?

No. κ is outside the Windows-1252 and code page 437 character sets, so no Alt + number code produces it. Copy it from this page, type 03BA then Alt + X in Word, or find it in Character Map.

How do I type the kappa symbol on a Mac?

There is no single Option shortcut for κ on the US layout. Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search for “kappa” and double-click it, or copy it from this page.

What is the HTML code for the kappa symbol?

Use the named entity κ or the numeric reference κ (hex κ). All three display κ in every browser.

What is the Unicode for the kappa symbol?

κ is U+03BA, officially named GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA, in the Greek and Coptic block. It has been part of Unicode since version 1.1 (1993).