β

See also: Β, ꞵ, β̞, ẞ, ß, 阝, and Appendix:Variations of "b"

β U+03B2, β GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA ← α [U+03B1] Greek and Coptic γ → [U+03B3]

Character variations

ᵝ U+1D5D, ᵝ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL BETA ← ᵜ [U+1D5C] Phonetic Extensions ᵞ → [U+1D5E]

𝛽 U+1D6FD, 𝛽 MATHEMATICAL ITALIC SMALL BETA ← 𝛼 [U+1D6FC] Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols 𝛾 → [U+1D6FE]

Translingual

Alternative forms

• (IPA): ꞵ

Pronunciation

• IPA:

  (file)

Symbol

β

1. (IPA, UPA) a voiced bilabial fricative or, occasionally, approximant.
2. (superscript ⟨ᵝ⟩, IPA) [β]-fricated release of a plosive (e.g. [bᵝ], sometimes implying an affricate [b͜β]); [β]-coloring; or a weak, fleeting or epenthetic [β].

   Specifically, on a vowel letter: a compressed vowel, e.g. Swedish /ʏᵝː/.

   On a Shona consonant: a whistled sibilant /z̤ᵝ/.

3. (chemistry) Used in chemical nomenclature to refer to the second of several isomers, positions or variations.

   β-carotene is the most well-known isomer of tetraterpene hydrocarbons, C₄₀H₅₆.

4. (topology) Stone–Čech compactification
5. (physics) beta ray, beta particle, beta radiation
6. (relativity) speed parameter, $\beta ={\frac {v}{c}}$

   $\gamma ={1 \over {\sqrt {1-\beta ^{2}}}}={1 \over {\sqrt {1-{v^{2} \over c^{2}}}}}$

Derivations

• (IPA) ⟨β̞⟩ (specifically an approximant)

See also

• β on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Albanian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /v(ə)/

Letter

β (v) (upper case Β, lower case β)

1. The 2nd letter of the Arvanitic Albanian Greek-script alphabet.

See also

• (Greek-script letters) Α α, Β β, Ƃ ƅ, Γ γ, Γϳ γϳ, Δ δ, D d, Ε ε, Ε̱ ε̱, Ζ ζ, Ζ̇ ζ̇, Θ θ, Ι ι, Ϳ ϳ, Κ κ, Κ̇ κ̇, Λ λ, ΛΛ λλ, Λ̇ λ̇, Μ μ, Ν ν, Ν̇ ν̇, Ο ο, Π π, Ρ ρ, Ρ̇ ρ̇, Σ σ, Σ̈ σ̈, Τ τ, Ȣ ȣ, Υ υ, Φ φ, Χ χ, Χ̇ χ̇, ΤΣ τσ, ΤΣ̈ τσ̈, DΣ dσ, DΣ̈ dσ̈
• (Latin-script letters) shkronjë; A a, B b, C c, Ç ç, D d, Dh dh, E e, Ë ë, F f, G g, Gj gj, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, Ll ll, M m, N n, Nj nj, O o, P p, Q q, R r, Rr rr, S s, Sh sh, T t, Th th, U u, V v, X x, Xh xh, Y y, Z z, Zh zh

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Derived from its majuscule counterpart Β, from the Phoenician letter 𐤁, beth.

Letter

β • (b) (lowercase, uppercase Β)

1. Lower-case beta (βῆτα), the second letter of the ancient Greek alphabet. It represented the voiced bilabial plosive: /b/ and later the voiced labiodental fricative /v/. It is preceded by α and followed by γ.

Derived terms

See also beta

• β' (v'), ,β (,v)
• b, B (Roman)
• б, Б; в, В (Cyrillic)
• 𐌱 (Gothic)
• ⲃ, Ⲃ (Coptic)
• β-particle

See also

• (Greek-script letters) Α α, Β β, Γ γ, Δ δ, Ε ε, Ζ ζ, Η η, Θ θ, Ι ι, Κ κ, Λ λ, Μ μ, Ν ν, Ξ ξ, Ο ο, Π π, Ρ ρ, Σ σ ς, Τ τ, Υ υ, Φ φ, Χ χ, Ψ ψ, Ω ω
• (non-Classical letters) Ϝ ϝ, Ͷ ͷ, Ͱ ͱ, Ϻ ϻ, Ϙ ϙ, Ͳ ͳ
• (punctuation) · ;
• (diacritics) ᾿ ῾ ◌́ ◌̀ ῀ ¨

Greek

Letter

β • (v) (lowercase, uppercase Β)

1. Lower-case beta (βήτα), the second letter of the modern Greek alphabet. It represents the voiced labiodental fricative: /v/. It is preceded by α and followed by γ.

Derived terms

• β' (v', “two, 2”)
• ,β (,v, “two thousand, 2,000”)

See also

• Appendix:Greek alphabet
• (Greek-script letters) Α α, Β β, Γ γ, Δ δ, Ε ε, Ζ ζ, Η η, Θ θ, Ι ι, Κ κ, Λ λ, Μ μ, Ν ν, Ξ ξ, Ο ο, Π π, Ρ ρ, Σ σ ς, Τ τ, Υ υ, Φ φ, Χ χ, Ψ ψ, Ω ω
• (non-Classical letters) Ϝ ϝ, Ͷ ͷ, Ͱ ͱ, Ϻ ϻ, Ϙ ϙ, Ͳ ͳ
• (punctuation) · ;
• (diacritics) ᾿ ῾ ◌́ ◌̀ ῀ ¨