beta

Ancient Greek alphabet

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

• (UK) enPR: bēʹtə, IPA^(key): /ˈbiːtə/
• (US) enPR: bāʹtə, IPA^(key): /ˈbeɪtə/, [ˈbeɪɾə]
• (Indic) enPR: bēʹtä, bāʹtä, IPA^(key): /ˈbiʈɑ/, /ˈbeʈɑ/
• (Philippines) enPR: bĕʹtə, IPA^(key): /ˈbɛtə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːtə, -eɪtə, (Philippines) -ɛtə
• Homophones: beater (UK, non-rhotic); baiter (US, non-rhotic)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek βῆτᾰ (bêtă). Doublet of beth.

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.
   • 1957, R. Avery, “This Week’s Competition”, in Time & Tide‎^[2], volume 38, number 1, page 184:

     But let me tell you happy extroverts that only Vera Telfer and H. A. C. Evans got even an alpha minus; only T. E. Hendrie got a beta plus […]

   • 1964, Randolph Churchill, The Fight for the Tory Leadership: A Contemporary Chronicle‎^[3], page 49:

     Mr Taylor would hardly give a beta minus to one of his history students […]

   • 1979, Angus MacVicar, Silver in My Sporran: Confessions of a Writing Man‎^[4], page 76:

     The English class was for me delightful. My essays, still written under the influence of Kubla Khan, nearly always got a beta plus.

4. (finance) Average sensitivity of a security's price to overall securities market prices.
   • 2001, Cheng-Few Lee, editor, Advances in Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management, volume 8, Elsevier, →ISBN, page 143:

     An inspection of the results indicate that Property Trusts is the lowest risk industry with a long-run beta of 0.4520 while Gold is the highest risk industry with a long-run beta of 1.5229.

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.

      The company is offering a public beta program to test the software.

   3. (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.

      • 2007, Mark Summerfield, Rapid GUI Programming with Python and Qt: The Definitive Guide to PyQt Programming‎^[5], Pearson Education, →ISBN:

        We will assume you got the .tgz version—later 2.x series versions such as 2.5.2 or 2.6.0 should be okay, provided they are production releases (not alphas, betas, or release candidates).

      • 2015 February 14, Steven Strom, “Evolve Review: Middle of the food chain”, in Ars Technica‎^[6]:

        Before Evolve had even seen its first beta, the game's publisher dipped its toe into presenting it as an eSport.

      • 2020 July 9, Jacob Krol, “Here’s how to get the iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 public beta”, in CNN‎^[7]:

        Apple is rolling out the public beta of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 on Thursday. We have a full (and lengthy) preview guide on both operating systems here, and now we’re breaking down how to get the public beta on your iPhone or iPad.
        These versions of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 are betas and don’t represent final software.

   4. (proscribed, uncountable) Any kind of content from early development that was not used in the final product.

      beta levels; beta characters; beta items in a video game

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.
    • 2006, Catherine Mann, Blaze of Glory‎^[8], Harlequin, published 2006, →ISBN:

      “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 Kevin J. Anderson, editor, Blood Lite II: Overbite, Gallery Books, →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, published 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^[9]:

      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

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.
    • 2013, Kristina Busse, “Pon Farr, Mpreg, Bonds, and the Rise of the Omegaverse”, in Anne Jamison, editor, Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World, 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 Ashton Spacey, editor, The Darker Side of Slash Fan Fiction, page 119:

      Betas are usually second in command to the reigning alpha, and omegas belong to the lowest caste of the social hierarchy.

(unfinished software):

• closed beta
• open beta
• paid beta
• perpetual beta
• public beta

• (sideslip angle): alpha, gamma, theta

• (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

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.

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 [10]

     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 [11]

     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 [12]

     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.

Borrowed from Hindi बेटा (beṭā).

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

   Don't pick that up, beta, it's dirty.

• Bate, Teba, abet, bate, beat

• bet, be

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

beta

1. I first-person singular pronoun

• D. Takaria, C. Pieter (1998), Kamus Bahasa Melayu Ambon-Indonesia‎^[13], Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

beta f (plural betes)

1. beta (Greek letter)

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

Borrowed from Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

beta f (plural betes)

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

Borrowed from Occitan beta.

beta f (plural betes)

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

• “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], April 2007

Borrowed from Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

• IPA^(key): [ˈbɛta]

beta n or f

1. beta (Greek letter)

when feminine:

Indeclinable when neuter.

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

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

beta n (genitive singular beta, plural betu)

1. beta (Greek letter)

• betageisli m
• betageisling f

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

beta m (plural betas)

1. beta (Greek letter)

beta

1. alternative spelling of baytah (“son”)

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

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

1. beta (Greek letter)

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)”).

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

beta

1. (dialectal) I, me, my

   Synonyms: aku, saya

• be (Kupang)

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

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

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

beta (plural beta-beta)

1. beta (second letter of the Greek alphabet)

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

bêta or beta

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

• Adelaar, K. A. (1992), Proto-Malayic: The reconstruction of its phonology and parts of its lexicon and morphology‎^[14], Canberra: The Australian National University

• “beta”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

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

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

beta f (invariable)

1. the name of the Greek script letter Β/β; beta
2. (computing) beta (software version)

• betacismo

• bet

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

beta f (plural bete)

1. alternative form of bieta; beet

• beat, tabe

beta

1. comparative degree of gud: better
   • 2012, Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment, Edinburgh: DJB, published 2012, →ISBN, Matyu 11:15:

     Enibadi we av iez — beta lisn gud!

     Anybody who has ears – better listen good!

beta

1. Rōmaji transcription of ベタ

Said by some sources to be of Celtic origin,^[1][2][3] but no obvious Celtic cognates exist; Ernout and Meillet adduce an apparently apocryphal Irish biatuis as cognate.^[1] 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.

bēta f (genitive bētae); first declension

1. A beet.

First-declension noun.

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

bēta n (indeclinable)

1. The Greek letter beta.

• “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, 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

• (Etymology 1):
  • (Standard Southern Peninsula) IPA^(key): [be.tə]

    • Audio (Malaysia):

      (file)

    • Rhymes: -etə, -tə, -ə
  • (Standard Literary) IPA^(key): [be.ta]

    • Audio (Malaysia):

      (file)

    • Rhymes: -eta, -ta, -a
• (Etymology 2):
  • (Standard Literary, Standard Southern Peninsula) IPA^(key): [be.ta]

    • Audio (Malaysia):

      (file)

    • Rhymes: -eta, -ta, -a
• Hyphenation: be‧ta

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

beta (Jawi spelling بيتا)

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

   Synonyms: aku (informal), saya (polite), patik (used when talking to king/queen)

Borrowed from English beta.

beta (Jawi spelling بيتا, plural beta-beta or beta²)

1. beta (second letter of the Greek alphabet)

• "beta" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017

From English better.

beta

1. good; better
   • 2024 January 11, Tamara Ebiwei, “'Dem tiff my pikin three hours afta I born am for hospital'”, in BBC News Pidgin‎^[15]:

     Dis hospital na one of di biggest hospitals for Lafia, wey get beta security. But one unknown woman allegedly tiff Mrs Wosilat Suleiman pikin.

     This hospital is one of the largest hospitals in Lafia, with good security. However, an unknown woman allegedly stole Mrs. Wosilat Suleiman's child.

• bete

• IPA^(key): /bʲe.d̪a/

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. 207^b11

     Cit comṡuidigthi la Grécu ní écen dúnni beta comṡuidigthi linn.

     Although they are compounds in Greek (lit. “with the Greeks”), it is not necessary for us that they be compounds in our language (lit. “with us”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛ.ta/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛta
• Syllabification: be‧ta

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

beta f

1. beta (Greek letter Β, β)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

beta m inan

1. genitive/accusative singular of bet

• “beta”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[16] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “beta”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[17] (in Polish)

• Hyphenation: be‧ta

Borrowed from Latin beta, from Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

beta f (plural betas)

1. beta (all senses)

beta f (plural betas)

1. beet (plant)

beta

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

• “beta”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “beta”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed from French bêta.

beta m (plural beta)

1. beta (Greek letter)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

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

bȅta f (Cyrillic spelling бе̏та)

1. beta, the Greek letter, Β, β

Borrowed from Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

• IPA^(key): /beta/, [ˈbeta]
• Rhymes: -eta
• Hyphenation: be‧ta

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

1. beta (Greek letter)

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

• “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, 2003–2026

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

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

beta f (plural betas)

1. beta; the Greek letter Β, β

• “beta”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Latin bēta, from Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta).

beta n or c

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

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

1. to test software prior to release

Ultimately from Latin bēta (“beet”).

beta c

1. beetroot

bete +‎ -a

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

1. to graze; to eat grass; to feed on growing herbage.

• beta av
• bete

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

• IPA^(key): /bɛˈtɑː/

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

1. to steal

• “beta”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “beta”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “beta”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)