Beta (upper case Β, lower case β) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. It seems to have come from the Phoenician word "beth" that means "house" or "tent". The shape of B represented that thing itself (tent), the usual house of the Semites. In the Ancient Greek language, it was pronounced [b], but in Modern Greek is pronounced [v]. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 2. Beta should not be confused with a similar-looking but unrelated letter in German language orthography, ß, which denotes an unvoiced "s" sound. Image File history File links Greek_alphabet_beta. ... The Greek language is written in the Greek alphabet, developed in classical times (ca 9th century B.C.) and passed down to the present. ... Alpha (uppercase Α, lowercase α) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Gamma (upper case Γ, lower case γ) is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Delta (upper case Δ, lower case δ) is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Epsilon (upper case Ε, lower case ε) is the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Zeta (upper case Ζ, lower case ζ) is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. ... For other meanings of ETA, see ETA (disambig). ... Note: A theta probe is a device for measuring soil moisture. ... Iota (upper case Ι, lower case ι) is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Kappa (upper case Κ, lower case κ) is the tenth letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Lambda (upper case Λ, lower case λ) is the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Mi (upper case &Mi;, lower case &mi;) is the 12th letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Nu (upper case Ν, lower case ν;) is the 13th letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Xi (upper case Ξ, lower case ξ) is the 14th letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Omicron (upper case Ο, lower case ο, literally small o) is the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Pi (upper case Π, lower case π) is the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Rho (upper case Ρ, lower case ρ) is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Sigma (upper case Σ, lower case σ, alternative ς) is the 18th letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Tau (upper case Τ, lower case Ï„) is the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Upsilon (upper case , lower case ) is the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Phi (upper case Φ, lower case φ or ) is the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Chi (upper case Χ, lower case χ) is the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Psi (Ψ ψ) is the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet and has a numeric value of 700. ... Look up Omega on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Omega (Ω ω) is the 24th and last letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Digamma, or Wau, (upper case , lower case ) is an obsolete letter of the Greek alphabet. ... San was a letter of the Greek alphabet, appearing between Pi and Qoppa in alphabetical order, corresponding in position although not in name to the Phoenician tsade. ... Qoppa is an obsolete letter of the Greek alphabet and has a numeric value of 90. ... Sampi (Upper case Ϡ, lower case ϡ) is an obsolete letter of the Greek alphabet and has a numeric value of 900. ... The Greek language is written in the Greek alphabet, developed in classical times (ca 9th century B.C.) and passed down to the present. ... Semitic is an adjective which in common parlance mistakenly refers specifically to Jewish things, while the term actually refers to things originating among speakers of Semitic languages or people descended from them, and in a linguistic context to the northeastern subfamily of Afro-Asiatic. ... Greek (Greek Ελληνικά, IPA – Hellenic) constitutes its own branch of the Indo-European languages. ... Modern Greek (Νεοελληνική, lit. ... Greek numerals are a system of representing numbers using letters of the Greek alphabet. ... German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ... The ß — Eszett (IPA ) in German or scharfes S (sharp S) if spelled out — is a letter used only in the German alphabet. ...

Beta is the second highest caste in Aldous Huxley's dystopic satire Brave New World. Book cover of Brave New World. ...

The lower-case letter β is used as the symbol for:

• The beta particle and beta decay in particle physics.
• The speed of an object relative to the speed of light (β = v/c) in special relativity theory.
• The voiced bilabial fricative (IPA) in phonology.

The Modern Greek name of the letter is /ˈviˑta/. The American pronunciation is /ˈbeɪtə/ whereas the British pronunciation is /ˈbiːtə/. See: American and British English differences, IPA Beta particles are high-energy electrons emitted by certain types of radioactive nuclei such as potassium-40. ... In nuclear physics, beta decay (sometimes called neutron decay) is a type of radioactive decay in which a beta particle (an electron or a positron) is emitted. ... Particles erupt from the collision point of two relativistic (100 GeV) gold ions in the STAR detector of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. ... A simple introduction to this subject is provided in Special relativity for beginners Special relativity (SR) or the special theory of relativity is the physical theory published in 1905 by Albert Einstein. ... The voiced bilabial fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet. ... Phonology (Greek phone = voice/sound and logos = word/speech), is a subfield of linguistics closely associated with phonetics. ... This article outlines the differences between American English, the form of the English language spoken in the United States, and Commonwealth English (often called British English). ... Symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet as used for English. ...

Letters that arose from Beta include the Roman B and the Cyrillic letters Be and Ve. The letter B is the second letter of the modern Latin alphabet. ... Be (Б, б) is the second letter in the Cyrillic alphabet. ... Ve (В, в) is the third letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, representing the sound [v]. In Russian, it is pronounced [f] at the end of a word. ...