the thirty eighth letter of the alphabet, and the thirtieth of the consonants;
It was taken at the time of the Crusaders from the Greek, in order to facilitate the writing of foreign words. The ancients used in its stead the letter փ;
φνσιϰος as փիւսկեան;
It is consequently pertinent only to modern Armenian, and if found in some early writers, the words are of foreign derivation.