F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet, derived from the Greek letter digamma (Ϝ), which in turn came from the Phoenician letter waw, denoting a labial sound. The development is chiefly a borrowing or learned continuation, carrying an older form and meaning into English rather than building the word from a purely native base. In present use, it is used as a noun meaning "the sixth letter of the English alphabet", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The named historical forms include Ancient Greek digamma, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance.