beta

beta

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of beta in English

English Online Dictionary. What means beta‎? What does beta mean?

English

Pronunciation

  • (UK) enPR: bēʹtə, IPA(key): /ˈbiːtə/
  • (US) enPR: bāʹtə, IPA(key): /ˈbeɪtə/, [ˈbeɪɾə]
  • (Philippines) enPR: bĕʹtə, IPA(key): /ˈbɛtə/
  • Rhymes: -iːtə, -eɪtə, (Philippines) -ɛtə
  • Homophones: beater (UK, non-rhotic); baiter (US, non-rhotic)

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta). Doublet of beth.

Noun

beta (countable and uncountable, plural betas)

  2. 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.
  3. (education, rare) An academic grade better than a gamma and worse than an alpha.
  4. (finance) Average sensitivity of a security's price to overall securities market prices.
  5. (computing, video games)
    2. (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.
    3. (countable) Software in such a phase; a preliminary version.
    4. (proscribed, uncountable) Any kind of content from early development that was not used in the final product.
  6. (climbing) Information about a route which may aid someone in climbing it.
  7. (physics) A beta particle or beta ray.
  8. (aviation) Sideslip angle.
  9. (aviation) The range of engine power settings in which the blade pitch angle of a constant-speed propeller is controlled directly by the angle of the engine's throttle lever (rather than varying with engine torque and airspeed to maintain a constant propeller RPM), allowing the propeller to be disked to generate high drag and slow the aircraft quickly.
  10. Alternative spelling of betta (“fish in the genus Betta”).
  11. (slang, manosphere, masculism) Ellipsis of beta male, a man who is less competent or desirable than an alpha male.
  12. (fandom slang) In omegaverse fiction, a person of a secondary sex similar to normal humans, lacking the biological drives of alphas and omegas but generally capable of bonding and mating with either.
    • 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.
Hyponyms

(unfinished software):

  • closed beta
  • open beta
  • paid beta
  • perpetual beta
  • public beta
Coordinate terms
  • (sideslip angle): alpha, gamma, theta
Derived terms
Translations
See also
  • (Greek-script letter names) alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, xi, omicron, pi, rho, sigma, tau, upsilon, phi, chi, psi, omega

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
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 [9]
      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 [10]
      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 [11]
      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.

Etymology 2

From Hindi बेटा (beṭā)

Noun

beta (countable and uncountable, plural betas)

  1. (North India, Pakistan, colloquial, Hinglish) a term of endearment, used towards someone of equal or lower standing such as a friend or child, similar to brother or son

Anagrams

  • Bate, Teba, abet, bate, beat

Ambonese Malay

Alternative forms

  • bet, be

Etymology

From Classical Malay بيتا (beta, “I”).

Pronoun

beta

  1. I first-person singular pronoun

See also

References

  • D. Takaria, C. Pieter (1998) Kamus Bahasa Melayu Ambon-Indonesia‎[12], Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa

Asturian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Noun

beta f (plural betes)

  1. beta (Greek letter)

Catalan

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈbɛ.tə]
  • IPA(key): (Valencia) [ˈbe.ta]

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Noun

beta f (plural betes)

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

Etymology 2

Borrowed 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

  • “beta”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈbɛta]

Noun

beta n or f

  1. beta (Greek letter)

Declension

when feminine:

Indeclinable when neuter.

Faroese

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈpeːʰta/
  • Rhymes: -eːʰta
  • Homophone: betað

Noun

beta n (genitive singular beta, plural betu)

  1. beta (Greek letter)

Declension

Derived terms

  • betageisli m
  • betageisling f

Galician

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Noun

beta m (plural betas)

  1. beta (Greek letter)

Guyanese Creole English

Noun

beta

  1. alternative spelling of baytah (“son”)

References

  • Henry, Edgar A. (2022) The Guyanese Slang Alphabet, Dorrance Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 41

Icelandic

Noun

beta f (genitive singular betu, nominative plural betur) or
beta n (genitive singular beta, nominative plural betu)

  1. beta (Greek letter)

Declension

Indonesian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Malay beta, possibly from Hindi बेटा (beṭā, “son”). Some linguists propose that this word is a native derivation due to the similarity in form with kita (“we (inclusive)”).

Pronunciation

  • (Standard Indonesian) IPA(key): /ˈbeta/ [ˈbe.t̪a]
  • Rhymes: -eta
  • Syllabification: be‧ta

Noun

beta

  1. (dialectal) I, me, my
    Synonyms: aku, saya
Usage notes

The pronoun is obsolete in common use and limited in literature. It is also highly stereotypical of Maluku Islands (Moluccas) and East Nusa Tenggara.

References
  • Adelaar, K. A. (1992) Proto-Malayic: The reconstruction of its phonology and parts of its lexicon and morphology‎[13], Canberra: The Australian National University

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Pronunciation

  • (Standard Indonesian) IPA(key): /ˈbeta/ [ˈbe.t̪a]
  • Rhymes: -eta
  • Syllabification: be‧ta

Noun

beta (plural beta-beta)

  1. beta (second letter of the Greek alphabet)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

  • (Standard Indonesian)
    • IPA(key): /bəˈta/ [bəˈt̪a]
      • Rhymes: -a
    • IPA(key): /ˈbeta/ [ˈbe.t̪a]
      • Rhymes: -eta
  • Syllabification: be‧ta

Noun

bêta or beta

  1. abbreviation of benda terbang aneh (“unidentified flying object”)

Further reading

  • “beta” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Italian

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

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

Noun

beta f (invariable)

  1. the name of the Greek script letter Β/β; beta
  2. (computing) beta (software version)
Derived terms
  • betacismo
Related terms
  • bet

Etymology 2

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

Noun

beta f (plural bete)

  1. alternative form of bieta; beet

Anagrams

  • beat, tabe

Jamaican Creole

Adjective

beta

  1. comparative degree of gud: better

Japanese

Romanization

beta

  1. Rōmaji transcription of ベタ

Latin

Etymology 1

Said by some sources to be of Celtic origin, but no obvious Celtic cognates exist; Ernout and Meillet adduce an apparently apocryphal Irish biatuis as cognate. 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.

Descendants

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Noun

bēta n (indeclinable)

  1. The Greek letter beta.

References

Further reading

  • “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

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

  • (Johor-Selangor) IPA(key): /betə/
  • (Riau-Lingga) IPA(key): /beta/
  • Rhymes: -etə, -tə, -ə

Pronoun

beta (Jawi spelling بيتا)

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

See also

  • aku
  • saya
  • patik

Noun

beta (Jawi spelling بيتا, plural beta-beta)

  1. beta (second letter of the Greek alphabet)

Nigerian Pidgin

Etymology

From English better.

Adjective

beta

  1. good; better

Old Irish

Alternative forms

  • bete

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbʲeda/

Verb

beta

  1. third-person plural present subjunctive relative of is
    • c. 845, St Gall Glosses on Priscian, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1975, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. II, pp. 49–224, Sg. 207b11

Polish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbɛ.ta/
  • Rhymes: -ɛta
  • Syllabification: be‧ta

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta), from Phoenician 𐤁 (b‬ /⁠bēt⁠/).

Noun

beta f

  1. beta (Greek letter Β, β)
Declension
Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

beta m inan

  1. genitive/accusative singular of bet

Further reading

  • beta in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • beta in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: be‧ta

Etymology 1

Borrowed from 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)

Etymology 3

Verb

beta

  1. inflection of betar:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French bêta.

Noun

beta m (plural beta)

  1. beta (Greek letter)

Declension

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed 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

Slovak

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈbeta]

Noun

beta f (genitive singular bety, nominative plural bety, genitive plural biet, declension pattern of žena) OR
beta n

  1. beta (Greek letter)

Usage notes

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

Declension

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, 2003–2025

Spanish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbeta/ [ˈbe.t̪a]
  • Rhymes: -eta
  • Syllabification: be‧ta
  • Homophone: veta

Noun

beta f (plural betas)

  1. beta; the Greek letter Β, β

Derived terms

Further reading

  • “beta”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Etymology 1

Latin bēta, from Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

Noun

beta n or c

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

Verb

beta (present betar, preterite betade, supine betat, imperative beta)

  1. to test software prior to release
Conjugation

Etymology 2

Ultimately from Latin bēta (“beet”).

Noun

beta c

  1. beetroot
Declension

Etymology 3

bete +‎ -a

Verb

beta (present betar, preterite betade, supine betat, imperative beta)

  1. to graze; to eat grass; to feed on growing herbage.
Conjugation
See also
  • beta av
  • bete

Etymology 4

Clipping of betaga; be- +‎ ta. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bɛˈtɑː/

Verb

beta (present betar, preterite betog, supine betagit, imperative beta)

  1. to steal
Conjugation

References

  • beta in Svensk ordbok (SO)
  • beta in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
  • beta in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.