α
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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| Unicode name | GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA | |||
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| Greek and Coptic | U+03B1 | |||
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Contents |
Translingual [edit]
Symbol [edit]
α
- (electrodynamics) The fine structure constant.
- (classical mechanics) Represents angular acceleration.
- See Wikipedia article on angular acceleration for usage.
- (chemistry) Used in chemical nomenclature.
- α-lactam has a three-membered ring structure.
- (astronomy) Used to identify the brightest star in a constellation, for instance α-Centauri.
Derived terms [edit]
See also [edit]
See alpha for names of this symbol in other languages.
Greek [edit]
Etymology [edit]
Derived from its Ancient Greek majuscule counterpart Α (A, “Alpha”), in turn from the Phoenician letter 𐤀 (“aleph”).
Letter [edit]
α (a) (lower case, upper case Α)
- Lower-case άλφα (álfa, “alpha”), the first letter of the modern Greek alphabet. Represents the open front unrounded vowel: IPA: /a/, X-SAMPA: /A/.
Usage notes [edit]
Ancient Greek, however, did not distinguish between upper case and lower case. See Α (A) for details.
