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Definition 2024

Beta

Beta

See also: beta, béta, bêta, and Běta

Translingual

Etymology

Latin beta ‎(“beet”)

Proper noun

Beta f

  1. A taxonomic genus within the family Amaranthaceae – beets.
  2. A taxonomic genus within the family Acrididae – now Philbostroma, certain grasshoppers.

Hypernyms

Hyponyms

See also

beets
grasshoppers

English

Proper noun

Beta

  1. Betamax.
  2. A scientific caste of people in the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

Anagrams

German

Noun

Beta n ‎(genitive Beta or Betas, plural Betas)

  1. beta (Greek letter)

Declension

Malay

Pronoun

  1. A pronoun which is used by Malay royal sovereigns to refer to themselves.

beta

beta

See also: Beta, béta, bêta, and Běta

English

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

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

Noun

beta ‎(plural betas)

  1. The name of 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.
  4. (computing) The phase of development after alpha testing and before launch, in which software, while not complete, has been released to potential users for testing.
  5. (computing) A computer program 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.
  6. (climbing) Information about a route which may aid someone in climbing it.
  7. (physics) A beta particle or beta ray.
  8. A beta fish, of the genus Betta.
  9. A beta male.
    • 2006, Catherine Mann, Blaze of Glory, Harlequin (2006), ISBN 9781459228252, 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 9781439187654, 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 9781402237577, 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.

Translations

Derived terms

(beta radiation, beta ray or beta particle):

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
      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 9780786426409, 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
      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
      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

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.

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

n1 Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative beta betað betu(r) betuni
Accusative beta betað betu(r) betuni
Dative beta betanum betum betunum
Genitive beta betans betna betnanna

Derived terms

  • betastrála f

Galician

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βῆτα ‎(bêta).

Noun

beta m ‎(plural betas)

  1. beta (Greek letter)

Italian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βῆτα ‎(bêta).

Noun

beta f ‎(invariable)

  1. beta (letter of the Greek alphabet)

Noun

beta f ‎(plural bete)

  1. beet (plant of the genus Beta)
  2. (computing) beta (software version)

Anagrams

Latin

Etymology 1

From Celtic.

Noun

bēta f ‎(genitive bētae); first declension

  1. A beet.

Inflection

First declension.

Case Singular Plural
nominative bēta bētae
genitive bētae bētārum
dative bētae bētīs
accusative bētam bētās
ablative bētā bētīs
vocative bēta bētae

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek βῆτα ‎(bêta).

Noun

bēta n ‎(indeclinable)

  1. The Greek letter beta.

References

Malay

Etymology 1

From Ambonese Malay beta.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

beta

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

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek βῆτα ‎(bêta).

Noun

beta

  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

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

Slovak

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βῆτα ‎(bêta).

Noun

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

  1. beta (Greek letter)

Declension

Usage notes

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

References

  • beta in Slovak dictionaries at korpus.sk

Spanish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbe.ta/
  • Homophone: veta

Noun

beta f ‎(plural betas)

  1. beta; the Greek letter Β, β

Swedish

Noun

beta n, c

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

Declension

Inflection 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

See also

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βῆτα ‎(bêta)

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈbiːtə/
  • (US) enPR: bāʹtə, IPA(key): /ˈbeɪtə/
  • Rhymes: -iːtə, -eɪtə

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