Omega

Omega (US: /ˈmɡə, -ˈmɛɡə, -ˈmɡə/ , UK: /ˈmɪɡə/;[1] uppercase Ω, lowercase ω) is the twenty-fourth and last letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value of 800. The name of the letter was originally (ō̂ [ɔ̂ː]), but it was later changed to ὦ μέγα (ō̂ méga 'big o') in the Middle Ages to distinguish it from omicron ο, whose name means 'small o', as both letters had come to be pronounced [o].[2] In modern Greek, its name has fused into ωμέγα (oméga).

In phonetic terms, the Ancient Greek Ω represented a long open-mid back rounded vowel [ɔː], in contrast to omicron, which represented the close-mid back rounded vowel [o], and the digraph ου, which represented the long close back rounded vowel [uː]. In modern Greek, both omega and omicron represent the mid back rounded vowel [o̞]. The letter omega is transliterated into a Latin-script alphabet as ō or simply o.

As the final letter in the Greek alphabet, omega is often used to denote the last, the end, or the ultimate limit of a set, in contrast to alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet; see Alpha and Omega.

  1. ^ Wells, John C. (2008). "omega". Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
  2. ^ "The Greek Alphabet".