alpha
alpha Lexical Profile
alpha Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Designating the dominant or highest-ranking individual within a social group, or exhibiting forceful leadership and high confidence.
"The documentary tracked how the alpha female guided the elephant herd to water during the drought."
Denoting the first, preliminary stage of software or product testing, typically conducted internally before external beta testing.
"The engineering team released an alpha build of the application to test its core architecture."
• noun
The first letter of the Greek alphabet (Α, α), transliterated as 'a'.
"In physics formulas, the lowercase Greek letter alpha is often used to represent angular acceleration."
The dominant individual in a social group of animals, or by extension a person who assumes a commanding leadership role.
"Researchers observed how the pack's alpha maintained order during feeding time."
The beginning, first part, or starting point of something (often contrasted with omega).
"Careful data collection is the alpha and omega of reliable empirical research."
In finance, a measure of the active return on an investment compared with a suitable market index or benchmark.
"The portfolio manager struggled to generate positive alpha during a volatile quarter."
• Rhymes for alpha
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed via Latin from Ancient Greek 'alpha' (ἄλφα), the name of the first letter of the Greek alphabet, which was itself derived from the Phoenician letter 'aleph', originally meaning 'ox'.