kappa

n. the tenth letter of the Greek alphabet.

n. the tenth letter of the Greek alphabet, represented as Κ or κ.

“The scientist used the Greek letter kappa to represent a specific constant in the equation.”

“In fluid mechanics, the von Kármán constant is often represented by the Greek letter kappa to describe the logarithmic velocity profile of a turbulent flow.”

Technical

n. a legendary Japanese creature that lives in water and looks like a mix between a human and a turtle.

n. a reptilian water sprite or yōkai from Japanese folklore, typically depicted as having a beak, a shell, and a water-filled cavity on its head.

“In the old story, the kappa would only leave people alone if they gave it a cucumber.”

“The protagonist encountered a kappa by the riverbank, a creature known in local legend for its polite manners and mischievous nature.”

Literary

n. a word or image used at the end of a sentence to show that you are joking or being sarcastic.

n. an emote or postscript used in digital communication to signal irony, sarcasm, or that the preceding statement was a joke.

“I definitely enjoy waking up at 4 a.m. for work, kappa.”

“The streamer's chat was flooded with the kappa emote after he jokingly claimed to be the best player in the world despite losing the match.”

Slang · Informal

n. a way to measure how much the price of an option changes when market volatility changes.

n. a Greek used in finance to measure the sensitivity of an option's value to a one-percent change in the implied volatility of the underlying asset.

“The trader checked the kappa of his portfolio to see how a jump in market fear would affect his profits.”

“While most traders refer to this risk metric as vega, some academic texts and specific trading desks still use the term kappa.”

Technical