Most of the pictographs used for this letter are or . Ancient Semitic letter which were originally oriented in a horizontal plane were tilted to a vertical plane. More than likely this letter was originally written as .

The name of this letter is quph, a parent root. When all of the words derived from this parent root are compared the common theme of a circle or revolution are found. The pictograph of this letter is probably a picture of the sun at the horizon in the sense of a revolution of the sun.

The various meanings of this letter are sun, revolution, circle and horizon. This letter can also mean condense as the light gathers at the sun when it is at the horizon. It can also mean time as the revolution of the sun is used to calculate time. Hebrew, Greek and Arabic agree that the sound for this letter is "q". The Modern Hebrew and Arabic name for this letter is quph, a parent root.

The early pictograph evolved into in the Middle Semitic script and continued to evolve into in the Late Semitic Script. From the middle Semitic script comes the Modern Hebrew ק. The Middle Semitic script is the origin of the Latin letter Q.