beta

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See also: Beta, béta, bêta, and Běta

English

Ancient Greek Alphabet
←
alpha
 →
gamma
Β β
Ancient Greek: βῆτα
Wikipedia article on beta

Etymology

From Lua error in Module:parameters at line 291: Parameter "sc" should be a valid script code; the value "polytonic" is not valid. See WT:LOS.

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 291: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈbiːtə/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 291: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: bāʹtə, IPA(key): /ˈbeɪtə/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -iːtə, -eɪtə
  • Homophone: beater (non-rhotic accents)
  • Homophone: baiter (non-rhotic accents)

Noun

beta (plural betas)

  1. The second letter of the Greek alphabet (Β,  β), preceded by alpha (Α,  α) and followed by gamma, (Γ,  γ). In modern Greek it represents the voiced labiodental fricative sound of v found in the English words have and vase.
  2. Used in marking scheme: α, β, γ or α+, α, α-, β etc.
  3. (finance) Average sensitivity of a security's price to overall securities market prices.
  5. (computing, video games, uncountable) The phase of development after alpha testing and before launch, in which software, while not complete, has been released to potential users for testing.
    The company is offering a public beta program to test the software.
  6. (computing, video games, countable) Software in such a phase; a preliminary version.
    • 2007, Michael Lopp, Managing Humans (page 107)
      He quickly deduced our goal—ship a quality beta—but he also quickly discerned that we had no idea about the quality of the product because of our pile of untriaged bugs.
    • 2015 February 14, Steven Strom, “Evolve Review: Middle of the food chain”, in Ars Technica‎[1]:
      Before Evolve had even seen its first beta, the game's publisher dipped its toe into presenting it as an eSport.
  7. (climbing) Information about a route which may aid someone in climbing it.
  8. (physics) A beta particle or beta ray.
  9. (zoology) Alternative spelling of betta (“fish in the genus Betta”)
  10. (slang, manosphere) Ellipsis of beta male., a man who is less competent or desirable than an alpha male.
    • 2006, Catherine Mann, Blaze of Glory, Harlequin (2006), →ISBN, unnumbered page:
      “I guess in your psychological language of alpha males and beta males, I would be firmly in the camp that prefers the more laid-back betas,” she took a deep breath, “like your father.”
    • 2010, L. A. Banks, "Dog Tired (of the Drama!)", in Blood Lite II: Overbite (ed. Kevin J. Anderson), Gallery Books (2010), →ISBN, page 121:
      “They want sexy, virile alpha males, yes? But that doesn't come with sensitive and loyal and all of that. That's a beta. A frickin' collie, Lola. […]
    • 2010, Terry Spear, Wolf Fever, Sourcebooks Casablanca (2010), →ISBN, page 24:
      She'd always had a thing for alpha males. Not that she had any intention of being bossed around, even if one had her best interests at heart. Her fascination with alphas was that they were a challenge. Betas didn't hold much of an appeal.
    • 2015, Stephen Jarosek, Tyrants of Matriarchy:
      When they ride the cock carousel in preference to the responsible betas that they find so boring, well, we guess that they pay.
    • 2018, Corey Pein, Live Work Work Work Die‎[2]:
      News of Harper-Mercer's murder spree, which killed ten, prompted speculation on neoreactionary forums that the long-awaited “beta uprising” of virginal shut-ins had begun. Not quite. But in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, a large audience of Americans finally saw the real beta uprising in the violent Nazi rally that shut the city down
  11. (fandom slang) In omegaverse fan fiction, a person of a (usually secondary) gender/sex that mirrors the biology of a normal human, being free from the biological drives of alphas and omegas but generally capable of bonding and mating with either.
    • 2013, Kristina Busse, "Pon Farr, Mpreg, Bonds, and the Rise of the Omegaverse", in Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World (ed. Anne Jamison), page 317:
      Many A/B/O stories posit societies where biological imperatives divide people based on wolf pack hierarchies into sexual dominants (alphas), sexual submissives (omegas), and everyone else (betas).
    • 2017, Marianne Gunderson, "What is an omega? Rewriting sex and gender in omegaverse fanfiction", thesis submitted to the University of Oslo, page 99:
      In ASD, the beta also functions as a contrast, as Yuri is assumed to be a beta before his first heat reveals his omega status.
    • 2018, Laura Campillo Arnaiz, "When the Omega Empath Met the Alpha Doctor: An Analysis of Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics in the Hannibal Fandom", in The Darker Side of Slash Fan Fiction (ed. Ashton Spacey), page 119:
      Betas are usually second in command to the reigning alpha, and omegas belong to the lowest caste of the social hierarchy.

Derived terms

(beta radiation, beta ray or beta particle):

Translations

Adjective

beta (not comparable)

  1. Identifying a molecular position in an organic chemical compound.
  2. Designates the second in an order of precedence.
  3. (computing) Preliminary; prerelease. Refers to an incomplete version of a product released for initial testing.
  4. (of a person, object or action) associated with the beta male/female archetype.

Derived terms

terms derived from beta (adjective)

Template:rel-mid

Translations

Verb

beta (third-person singular simple present betas, present participle betaing, simple past and past participle betaed)

  1. (computing) To preliminarily release computer software for initial testing prior to final release.
  2. (chiefly Internet) To beta-read a text.
    • 1999, sqira a., in alt.tv.x-files.creative [3]
      My thanks to Heather; who read it and betaed it. Thank you.
    • 2000, Elizabeth Durack, quoted in Angelina I. Karpovich, “The Audience as Editor: The Role of Beta Readers in Online Fan Fiction Communities” (essay), in Karen Hellekson and Kristina Busse (editors), Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet, McFarland (2006), →ISBN, page 180,
      Beta’ing is time-consuming, so asking a lot of people to give you a detailed analysis isn’t the most polite thing to do.
    • 2002, Jane Davitt, in alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer.creative [4]
      The next part is written and beta'd (thanks, Jen!), ready to go but <shuffles feet> I haven't even started what should be the final part yet.
    • 2002, Karmen Ghia, in alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated [5]
      I had the honor of betaing this story and as I was doing the first read through I had the odd, but lovely, experience when a story suspends the reader in its own rhythm and flow, its own reality.

Anagrams

Ambonese Malay

Pronoun

beta

  1. I first-person singular pronoun

Asturian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Noun

beta f (plural betes)

  1. beta (Greek letter)

Catalan

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Noun

beta f (plural betes)

  1. beta; the Greek letter Β (lowercase β).

Etymology 2

From Occitan beta.

Noun

beta f (plural betes)

  1. boat; specifically a small, flat-bottom boat common to the coasts of Provence and Languedoc.

Further reading

Czech

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Noun

beta n

  1. beta (Greek letter)

Faroese

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta), ultimately from Proto-Semitic *bayt- (“house”).

Noun

beta n (genitive singular beta, plural betu)

  1. beta (Greek letter)

Declension

Declension of beta
n1 singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative beta betað betu, betur betuni
accusative beta betað betu, betur betuni
dative beta betanum betum betunum
genitive beta betans betna betnanna

Derived terms

Galician

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Noun

beta m (plural betas)

  1. beta (Greek letter)

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbɛ.ta/, [ˈbɛːt̪ä]
  • Rhymes: -ɛta
  • Hyphenation: bè‧ta

Etymology 1

From Latin bēta, from Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Noun

beta f (uncountable)

Italian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia it
  1. The name of the Greek script letter Β/β; beta
  2. (computing) beta (software version)
Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Latin bēta (“beet”), from Celtic.

Noun

beta f (plural bete)

  1. (botany) Alternative form of bieta; beet

Anagrams

Japanese

Romanization

beta

  1. Rōmaji transcription of ベタ

Latin

Etymology 1

Said to be from the Goidelic word for red (Proto-Celtic *bett (“red, red beet”), modern Irish biatas), but Baxter rejects this, citing that Strabo's use of the word predated frequent Roman contact with the British Isles by at least a century. Also compared are blitum (“spinach”), meta (“conic heap of stones”) (compared to the root's spindle form), and less likely, sense 2, with the seed vessel resembling the letter.

Noun

bēta f (genitive bētae); first declension

  1. A beet.
Declension

First-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative bēta bētae
Genitive bētae bētārum
Dative bētae bētīs
Accusative bētam bētās
Ablative bētā bētīs
Vocative bēta bētae
Descendants
  • Catalan: bleda (partially), bleda-rave
  • Danish: bede
  • Estonian: peet
  • Middle Dutch: bete
  • Old English: bete

Template:mid2

  • Sicilian: jiti (Southern East of Sicily) (it is probably pluralia tantum but preceded by definite article "a")

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Noun

bēta n (indeclinable)

  1. The Greek letter beta.

References

  • “beta”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “beta”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • beta in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN
  • Berti-Pichat (1866)
  • Baxter (1837)
  • Poiret (1827)
  • von Lippmann (1925)
  • Geschwind & Sellier (1902)
  • Pabst (1887)
  • Becker-Dillengen (1928)
  • Biancardi, Panella & Lewellen (2011): Beta maritima: The Origin of Beets

Malay

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 291: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "Johor-Selangor" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /betə/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 291: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "Riau-Lingga" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /beta/
  • Rhymes: -etə, -tə, -ə

Etymology 1

From Court Malay, Beta.

Pronoun

beta (Jawi spelling بيت)

  1. (Palace Malay) I, me, my (exclusive use in royalty, subject is either king or queen)
See also

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Noun

beta (Jawi spelling بيتا, plural beta-beta, informal 1st possessive betaku, 2nd possessive betamu, 3rd possessive betanya)

  1. beta (second letter of the Greek alphabet)

Old Irish

Alternative forms

Verb

beta

  1. third-person plural present subjunctive relative of is

Portuguese

Etymology 1

Latin beta, from Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Noun

beta f (plural betas)

  1. beta (all senses)

Etymology 2

Noun

beta f (plural betas)

  1. beet (plant)

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bêta/
  • Hyphenation: be‧ta

Noun

bȅta f (Cyrillic spelling бе̏та)

  1. beta, the Greek letter, Β, β

Declension

Declension of beta
singular plural
nominative beta bete
genitive bete beta
dative beti betama
accusative betu bete
vocative beto bete
locative beti betama
instrumental betom betama

Slovak

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Pronunciation

Noun

beta f OR
beta n

  1. beta (Greek letter)

Usage notes

When used in the neuter gender, the word is not declined.

Declension

Declension of beta
singular plural
nominative beta bety
genitive bety biet
dative bete betám
accusative betu bety
locative bete betách
instrumental betou betami

References

  • “beta”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024

Spanish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta) ultimately from Proto-Semitic *bayt- (“house”).

Pronunciation

Noun

beta f (plural betas)

  1. beta; the Greek letter Β, β

Swedish

Etymology

Latin beta, from Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Noun

beta n or c

  1. beta; the Greek letter Β, β
  2. beetroot
  3. (computing) a beta version of a program
  4. (slang) short for minnesbeta

Declension

Declension of beta Greek letter
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative beta betat beta betan
Genitive betas betats betas betans
Declension of beta 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative beta betan betor betorna
Genitive betas betans betors betornas

Verb

beta

  1. to graze; to eat grass; to feed on growing herbage.
  2. to test software prior to release.

Conjugation

Conjugation of beta (weak)
Active Passive
Infinitive beta betas
Supine betat betats
Imperative beta —
Imper. plural1 beten —
Present Past Present Past
Indicative betar betade betas betades
Ind. plural1 beta betade betas betades
Subjunctive2 bete betade betes betades
Participles
Present participle betande
Past participle betad
1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

See also

Verb

beta

  1. to steal

Conjugation

Conjugation of beta (class 6 strong)
Active Passive
Infinitive beta betas
Supine betagit betagits
Imperative beta —
Imper. plural1 betan —
Present Past Present Past
Indicative betar betog betas betogs
Ind. plural1 beta betogo betas betogos
Subjunctive2 beta betoge betas betoges
Participles
Present participle betagande
Past participle betagen
1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.
Conjugation of betaga (class 6 strong)
Active Passive
Infinitive betaga betagas
Supine betagit betagits
Imperative betag —
Imper. plural1 betagen —
Present Past Present Past
Indicative betager betog betages betogs
Ind. plural1 betaga betogo betagas betogos
Subjunctive2 betage betoge betages betoges
Participles
Present participle betagande
Past participle betagen
1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.
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