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Definition 2024


Α

Α


Α U+0391, Α
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA
ΐ
[U+0390]
Greek and Coptic Β
[U+0392]
See also: Α., α, ά, α., ά., and Appendix:Variations of "a"

Ancient Greek

Greek letter Α (A, “Alpha”)

Letter

Α (A) (upper case, lower case α)

  1. The letter ἄλφα (álpha, alpha), the first letter of the ancient Greek alphabet.

Usage notes

The letter represented the open front unrounded vowel: /a/, /aː/. Today, this letter is often represented by lower case α (a), although Ancient Greek did not distinguish between upper and lower case.

Derived terms

  • (Modern Greek letters) Α (A, Alpha), α (a, alpha)
  • (Latin (Roman) letters) a, A
  • (Cyrillic letters) а (a), А (A)
  • (Coptic) (a), (A)

See also

References


Greek

Alternative forms

  • (noun & adjective): Α. (A.)

Pronunciation

Etymology

The Ancient Greek letter Α (A, alpha) derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤀 (ʼ, aleph) ()

Letter

Α (A) (upper case, lower case α)

  1. The letter άλφα (álfa, alpha), the first letter of the Modern Greek alphabet.

Coordinate terms

Numeral

Α (A) (Greek numeral)

  1. The number one (1).

Coordinate terms

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Α΄ Β΄ Γ΄ Δ΄ Ε΄ Ϛ΄, ΣΤ΄ Ζ΄ Η΄ Θ΄ Ι΄ ΙΑ΄ ΙΒ΄ ΙΓ΄ ΙΔ΄ ΙΕ΄ ΙϚ΄, ΙΣΤ΄ ΙΖ΄ ΙΗ΄ ΙΘ΄ Κ΄ ΚΑ΄ ΚΒ΄ Λ΄ Μ΄ Ν΄ Ξ΄ Ο΄ Π΄ Ϟ΄
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1k 2k 3k 4k 5k 6k 7k 8k 9k 10k 11k 20k 100k
Ρ΄ Σ΄ Τ΄ Υ΄ Φ΄ Χ΄ Ψ΄ Ω΄ Ϡ΄ ͵Α ͵Β ͵Γ ͵Δ ͵Ε ͵Ϛ, ͵ΣΤ ͵Ζ ͵Η ͵Θ ͵Ι ͵ΙΑ ͵Κ ͵Ρ
Greek number and measurement appendix

Noun

Α (A) f (invariable)

  1. Initialism of ανατολή (anatolí): east

Adjective

Α (A) (invariable)

  1. Initialism of ανατολικός (anatolikós): east, eastern

Coordinate terms

  • Appendix:Greek compass points

α

α


α U+03B1, α
GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA
ΰ
[U+03B0]
Greek and Coptic β
[U+03B2]
See also: Α, Α., ά, α., ά., α', , , and Appendix:Variations of "a"

Translingual

Symbol

α

  1. (electrodynamics) The fine structure constant.
  2. (classical mechanics) Represents angular acceleration.
    See Wikipedia article on angular acceleration for usage.
  3. (chemistry) Used in chemical nomenclature.
    α-lactam has a three-membered ring structure.
  4. (astronomy) Used to identify the brightest star in a constellation, for instance α-Centauri.
  5. (topology) Alexandroff compactification

Derived terms

See also

  • alpha (for names of this symbol in other language)

Greek

Etymology 1

Derived from its Ancient Greek majuscule counterpart Α (A, Alpha), in turn from the Phoenician letter 𐤀 (aleph).

Letter

α (a) (lower case, upper case Α)

  1. Lower-case άλφα (álfa, alpha), the first letter of the modern Greek alphabet. Represents the open front unrounded vowel: /a/.
Usage notes
  • Ancient Greek, however, did not distinguish between upper case and lower case. See Α (A) for details.
Derived terms
  • α' (a', one, 1)
  • (,a, one thousand, 1,000)
See also
  • Appendix:Greek alphabet

Etymology 2

Interjection

α! (a!)

  1. ah!, aah! (expressing emotion)