β

See also: Β, β̞, and Appendix:Variations of "b"

β U+03B2, β GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA ← α [U+03B1] Greek and Coptic γ → [U+03B3]

Translingual

Pronunciation

• IPA

  (file)

Symbol

β

1. The second letter of the Greek alphabet.
2. (IPA) voiced bilabial fricative.
3. (chemistry) Used in chemical nomenclature to refer to the second of several isomers, positions or variations.

   β-carotene is the most well-known isomer of tetraterpene hydrocarbons, C₄₀H₅₆.

4. (topology) Stone–Čech compactification
5. (physics) beta ray, beta particle, beta radiation
6. (physics) speed (of something) divided by the speed of light

   $\gamma =(1-\beta ^{2})^{-{\frac {1}{2}}}=(1-{\frac {v^{2}}{c^{2}}})^{-{\frac {1}{2}}}$

See also

• β on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

---

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Derived from its majuscule counterpart Β, from the Phoenician letter 𐤁, beth.

Letter

β • (b) (lowercase, uppercase Β)

1. Lower-case beta (βήτα), the second letter of the ancient Greek alphabet. It represented the voiced bilabial plosive: /b/. It is preceded by α and followed by γ.

Derived terms

See also beta

• β' (v'), ,β (,v)
• b, B (Roman)
• б, Б (Cyrillic)
• в, В (Cyrillic)
• ⲃ, Ⲃ (Coptic)
• β-particle

See also

• (Greek-script letters) Α α (A a), Β β (B b), Γ γ (G g), Δ δ (D d), Ε ε (E e), Ζ ζ (Z z), Η η (Ē ē), Θ θ (Th th), Ι ι ℩ (I i ℩), Κ κ (K k), Λ λ (L l), Μ μ (M m), Ν ν (N n), Ξ ξ (X x), Ο ο (O o), Π π (P p), Ρ ρ (R r), Σ σ ς (S s s), Τ τ (T t), Υ υ (U u), Φ φ (Ph ph), Χ χ (Kh kh), Ψ ψ (Ps ps), Ω ω (Ō ō)
• (punctuation) · ;
• (diacritics) ᾿ ῾ ´ ` ῀ ¨ ¯ ˘

---

Greek

Letter

β • (b) (lowercase, uppercase Β)

1. Lower-case beta (βήτα), the second letter of the modern Greek alphabet. It represents the voiced labiodental fricative: /v/. It is preceded by α and followed by γ.

Derived terms

• β' (v', “two, 2”)
• ,β (,v, “two thousand, 2,000”)

See also

• Appendix:Greek alphabet
• (Greek-script letters) Α α (A a), Β β (B b), Γ γ (G g), Δ δ (D d), Ε ε (E e), Ζ ζ (Z z), Η η (Ē ē), Θ θ (Th th), Ι ι ℩ (I i ℩), Κ κ (K k), Λ λ (L l), Μ μ (M m), Ν ν (N n), Ξ ξ (X x), Ο ο (O o), Π π (P p), Ρ ρ (R r), Σ σ ς (S s s), Τ τ (T t), Υ υ (U u), Φ φ (Ph ph), Χ χ (Kh kh), Ψ ψ (Ps ps), Ω ω (Ō ō)
• (punctuation) · ;
• (diacritics) ᾿ ῾ ´ ` ῀ ¨ ¯ ˘