ρ Ρ, ρ, ῥῶ, τό, indecl., seventeenth letter of Gr. Alphabet, as numeral ρʹ 100, but ͵ρ 100, 000. Dialectic and other changes: Aeolic, at the end of words ς passed into ρ, as οὗτορ, ἵππορ for οὗτος, ἵππος; cf. Lat. arbor arbos, honor honos. in Attic, ρρ replaced the Ionic and old Attic ρς, as ἄρρην, θάρρος for ἄρσην, θάρσος. in some words ρ is transposed, as κάρτος Epic for κράτος, ἀταρπός for ἀτραπός, κραδίη for καρδία:—mostly in Poets. ρ at the beginning of a word was pronounced so as to make a short vowel at the end of the word before long by position, as, ψυχρὴ ὑπὸ ῥιπῆς Il. by reason of this pronunc., ρ was doubled after a prep. or α privat., and after the augment, as ἀπορρίπτω, ἄρρωστος, ἔρριψα. if ρ begins a word, it takes the rough breathing, except in Aeolic