The numerical interpretation of Greek words.

The greek alphabet is an ordered set of 24 upper/lowercase pairs of characters - the position and numerical value of each letter of each of these pairs being detailed below:

This scheme of numeration was introduced circa 600 BC for the purpose of recording numbers on an additive basis - the missing values, 6 and 90, being represented by non-alphabetic symbols. Following this innovation, a string of letters became fairly interpretable as the number obtained by summing their tabular values. Thus, associated with every Greek name, word, phrase, and so on, there is a fixed whole number that may, for convenience, be referred to as its characteristic value.