ALPHA

Alpha

Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 1. It was derived from the Phoenician letter aleph 20px|Aleph. Letters that arose from alpha include the Latin A and the Cyrillic letter А.

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alpha

Noun

  1. The name of the first letter of the Greek alphabet (Α,  α), followed by beta. In the Latin alphabet it is the predecessor to A.
  2. Latin alpha
  3. The name of the symbols Α and α used in science and mathematics, often interchangeable with the symbols when used as a prefix.
    I will attempt to make an alpha particle ("α-particle") with the large hadron collider.
  4. The return of a given asset or portfolio adjusted for systematic risk.
  5. An alpha male.
  6. Alphabet.

Adjective

  1. Designates the first in an order of precedence.
    I am the alpha male.
  2. associated with the alpha male/female archetype.
  3. Designates the brightest star in a constellation.
    When space travel becomes feasible, I plan to visit Alpha Centauri.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: alpha
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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