al·pha

(ăl′fə)

1. The first letter of the Greek alphabet. See Table at alphabet.

2. The first of a series; the beginning.

3. Astronomy The brightest star in a constellation.

a. The mathematical estimate of the return on a security when the return on the market as a whole is zero. Alpha is derived from a in the formula R_i = a + bR_m, which measures the return on a security (R_i) for a given return on the market (R_m) where b is beta.

b. The return on an investment portfolio that can be attributed to the skill of the portfolio's manager rather than the performance of the market.

adj.

1. Being the highest ranked or most dominant individual of one's sex. Used of social animals: the alpha female of the wolf pack.

2. Chemistry

a. Being in the first position relative to a designated carbon atom in an organic molecule at which an atom or a group may be substituted.

b. Referring to the first of a group of isomers, or molecules of similar origin or properties, determined arbitrarily by those who discover or classify them. Used in combination: alpha-tocopherol.

3. Alphabetical.

[Greek, of Phoenician origin; see ʔlp in Semitic roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

alpha

(ˈælfə)

1. (Letters of the Alphabet (Foreign)) the first letter in the Greek alphabet (Α, α), a vowel transliterated as a

2. (Education) Brit the highest grade or mark, as in an examination

3. (General Physics) (modifier)

a. involving or relating to helium-4 nuclei: an alpha particle.

b. relating to one of two or more allotropes or crystal structures of a solid: alpha iron.

c. relating to one of two or more isomeric forms of a chemical compound, esp one in which a group is attached to the carbon atom to which the principal group is attached

4. (modifier) denoting the dominant person or animal in a group: the alpha male.

[via Latin from Greek, of Phoenician origin; related to Hebrew āleph, literally: ox]

Alpha

(ˈælfə)

1. (Astronomy) (foll by the genitive case of a specified constellation) usually the brightest star in a constellation: Alpha Centauri.

2. (Communications & Information) communications a code word for the letter a

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

al•pha

(ˈæl fə)

n., pl. -phas,
adj. n.

1. the first letter of the Greek alphabet (Α, α).

2. the first; beginning.

3. (cap.) the brightest star in a constellation: Alpha Centauri.

4. the first or foremost in a series of related items.

adj.

a. (esp. of animals) having the highest rank of its sex in a dominance hierarchy: the alpha female.

b. being the most prominent, talented, or aggressive person in a group: the alpha male of investment bankers.

6. pertaining or linked to the carbon atom closest to a particular group in an organic molecule.

[< Latin < Greek álpha < Semitic; compare aleph]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	alpha - the 1st letter of the Greek alphabet Greek alphabet - the alphabet used by ancient Greeks alphabetic character, letter of the alphabet, letter - the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech; "his grandmother taught him his letters"
	2.	alpha - the beginning of a series or sequence; "the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end"--Revelations start - the beginning of anything; "it was off to a good start"
Adj.	1.	alpha - first in order of importance; "the alpha male in the group of chimpanzees"; "the alpha star in a constellation is the brightest or main star" important, of import - of great significance or value; "important people"; "the important questions of the day"
	2.	alpha - early testing stage of a software or hardware product; "alpha version" explorative, exploratory - serving in or intended for exploration or discovery; "an exploratory operation"; "exploratory reconnaissance"; "digging an exploratory well in the Gulf of Mexico"; "exploratory talks between diplomats"

alpha

noun

the alpha and omega first and last, be-all and end-all He was the alpha and omega of the comedy series.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

alfa

alfa

alfa

alfa

알파

alpha

alfa

alfa

альфа

alfa

alpha

[ˈælfə]

A. N (= letter) → alfa f (Brit) (Scol, Univ) → sobresaliente m

B. CPD alpha particle N (Phys) → partícula f alfa
alpha rhythm, alpha wave N (Physiol) → ritmo m alfa

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

alpha

(= letter) → Alpha nt

(Brit Sch, Univ) → Eins f; alpha plus → Eins (→ plus (hum)); (Sch also) → Eins (→ mit Stern (hum))

alpha

alpha particle

n → Alphateilchen nt

alpha ray

n → Alphastrahl m

alpha rhythm, alpha wave

n (Physiol) → Alpharhythmus m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

alpha

[ˈælfə]

1. n → alfa m or f inv

2. adj (Phys) alpha particle → particella f alfa inv

alpha

n alfa; — fetoprotein alfa fetoproteína; — galactosidase alfa galactosidasa; — hydroxy acids ácidos alfa hidróxidos; — methyldopa alfa metildopa

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The outlying villages, they say, are by them called {kappa omega mu alpha iota}, by the Athenians {delta eta mu iota}: and they assume that Comedians were so named not from {kappa omega mu 'alpha zeta epsilon iota nu}, 'to revel,' but because they wandered from village to village (kappa alpha tau alpha / kappa omega mu alpha sigma), being excluded contemptuously from the city.

View in context

And if it be my Alpha and Omega that everything heavy shall become light, every body a dancer, and every spirit a bird: and verily, that is my Alpha and Omega!--

View in context

"There are a few of us who frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in the Museum itself during the day, you understand.

In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one of the streets which runs down into Holborn.

I should like to know who sold you the geese which you supplied to the Alpha."

I tell you, all those birds that went to the Alpha were town bred."

View in context

Two abysmal beasts sprang at each other's throats that day beneath the shadow of earth's oldest cliffs--the man of now and the man-thing of the earliest, forgotten then, imbued by the same deathless passion that has come down unchanged through all the epochs, periods and eras of time from the beginning, and which shall continue to the incalculable end--woman, the imperishable Alpha and Omega of life.

View in context

He was versed in patent lore from Alpha to Omega; and as the trial proceeded, he became convinced that the Bell patent was valid.

View in context

Now inasmuch as we have plenty of wit, we thought it would be a good thing to parade our dear little honor, or dishonor, to catch an old boy; but that old boy, my dear heart, knows the Alpha and Omega of female tricks,--which means that you could easier put salt on a sparrow's tail than to make me believe I have anything to do with your little affair.

View in context

Standing at the beginning of British (and English) history, his name came to be applied to the whole of it, just as the first two Greek letters, alpha and beta, have given the name to the alphabet.] Laghamon was a humble parish priest in Worcestershire, and his thirty-two thousand half-lines, in which he imperfectly follows the Anglo-Saxon alliterative meter, are rather crude; though they are by no means dull, rather are often strong with the old-time Anglo-Saxon fighting spirit.

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That I merited all I endured, I acknowledged--that I could scarcely endure more, I pleaded; and the alpha and omega of my heart's wishes broke involuntarily from my lips in the words--'Jane!

View in context

or--and a subtler thought--was she mastered by some vaster, profounder superstition, a fetish-worship of which the Alpha and the Omega was the cryptic SAMUEL?

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