View source for Beta

{{short description|Second letter of the Greek alphabet}}
{{Hatnote group|
{{About-distinguish-text|the Greek beta|[[Betta]], the Latin [[B]] or [[ß]], the Chinese radical [[阝]], or the Malayalan [[ദ]]}}
{{Other uses}}
}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2012}}
{{Greek Alphabet|letter=beta}}
'''Beta''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|ˈ|b|iː|t|ə}}, {{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|b|eɪ|t|ə|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Beta.wav}}; uppercase {{Script|Grek|'''Β'''}}, lowercase {{not a typo|{{Script|Grek|'''β'''}}}}, or [[cursive Greek|cursive]] {{Script|Grek|[[#Typography|{{not a typo|ϐ}}]]}}; {{langx|grc|βῆτα|bē̂ta}} or {{langx|el|βήτα|víta}}) is the second letter of the [[Greek alphabet]]. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In [[Ancient Greek]], beta represented the [[voiced bilabial plosive]] {{IPA|el|b|IPA}}. In [[Modern Greek]], it represents the [[voiced bilabial fricative]] {{IPA|el|β|IPA}} while {{IPA|el|b|IPA}} in borrowed words is instead commonly transcribed as μπ.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UN Romanization of Greek for Geographical Names (1987) |url=http://www.eki.ee/wgrs/rom1_el.htm |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=www.eki.ee}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pronouncing the Greek Alphabet |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/the-greek-alphabet-1705558 |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en}}</ref> Letters that arose from beta include the Roman letter {{angle bracket|[[B]]}} and the Cyrillic letters {{angle bracket|[[Be (Cyrillic)|Б]]}} and {{angle bracket|[[Ve (Cyrillic)|В]]}}.

==Name==
Like the names of most other Greek letters, the name of beta was adopted from the [[acrophony|acrophonic]] name of the corresponding letter in [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]], which was the common [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] word {{lang|sem-x-proto|*bayt}} ('house', compare {{langx|ar|بيت}} {{lang|ar-Latn|bayt}} and {{langx|he|בית}} {{lang|he-Latn|báyit}}). In Greek, the name was {{lang|grc|βῆτα}} {{lang|grc-Latn|bêta}}, pronounced {{IPA|el|bɛ̂ːta|}} in Ancient Greek. It is spelled {{lang|el|βήτα}} in modern monotonic orthography and pronounced {{IPA|el|ˈvita|}}.

==History==
{{see also|Archaic Greek alphabets}}
The letter beta was derived from the [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician letter]] [[Bet (letter)|beth]] [[Image:Phoenician beth.svg|20px|Beth]].

The letter Β had the largest number of highly divergent local forms. Besides the standard form (either rounded or pointed, {{GrGl|Beta 16}}), there were forms as varied as {{GrGl|Beta 12}} ([[Gortyn]]), {{GrGl|Beta 01}} and {{GrGl|Beta 10}} ([[Thera]]), {{GrGl|Beta 03}} ([[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]]), {{GrGl|Beta 05}} ([[Melos]]), {{GrGl|Beta Corinth 1}} ([[Corinth]]), {{GrGl|Beta Byzantium 1}} ([[Megara]], [[Byzantium]]), and {{GrGl|Gamma C-shaped}} ([[Cyclades]]).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jeffery |first1=Lilian Hamilton |title=The Local Scripts of Archaic Greece |date=1961 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=23}}</ref>

==Uses==
[[File:NAMA Alphabet grec.jpg|thumb|The Greek alphabet on an ancient [[black figure]] vessel, with the characteristically angular beta of the time]]

===Algebraic numerals===
In the system of [[Greek numerals]], beta has a value of 2. Such use is denoted by a number mark: Β′.

===Computing===
{{see also|Software release life cycle#Beta|Alpha–beta pruning}}

===Finance===
[[Beta (finance)|Beta is used in finance]] as a measure of investment portfolio risk.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weisstein |first=Eric W. |title=Beta |url=https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Beta.html |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=mathworld.wolfram.com |language=en |quote=A financial measure of a fund's sensitivity to market movements which measures the relationship between a fund's excess return over Treasury Bills and the excess return of a benchmark index (which, by definition, has ß=1)}}</ref>

===International Phonetic Alphabet===
In the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]], Greek minuscule beta denotes a [[voiced bilabial fricative]] {{ipa|[β]}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=IPA symbols with Unicode decimal and hex codes |url=https://www.internationalphoneticalphabet.org/ipa-charts/ipa-symbols-with-unicode-decimal-and-hex-codes/ |access-date=2025-09-24 |website=www.internationalphoneticalphabet.org |quote=β ...vd bilabial fricative}}</ref>

A superscript version may also indicate a [[compressed vowel]], like {{IPA|[ɯᵝ]}}.

===Meteorology===
Beta has twice been used to [[Tropical cyclone naming|name]] an Atlantic Basin [[tropical cyclone]]:
* [[Hurricane Beta]], in [[2005 Atlantic hurricane season|2005]]
* [[Tropical Storm Beta (2020)|Tropical Storm Beta]], in [[2020 Atlantic hurricane season|2020]]

===Mathematics and science===

* Beta is often used to denote a variable in mathematics and physics, where it often has specific meanings for certain applications.
* β is sometimes used as a placeholder for an [[ordinal number]] if α is already used. For example, the two roots of a [[quadratic equation]] are typically labelled {{math|''α''}} and {{math|''β''}}.
* In [[regression analysis]], {{angle bracket|B}} symbolizes nonstandardized partial slope coefficients, whereas {{angle bracket|β}} represents [[Standardized coefficient|standardized (standard deviation-score form) coefficients]]; in both cases, the coefficients reflect the change in the criterion Y per one-unit change in the value of the associated predictor X.
* In spaceflight, [[beta angle]] describes the angle between the orbit plane of a spacecraft or other body and the vector from the sun.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thermal Operation {{!}} The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Experiment |url=https://ams02.space/operations/thermal-operation |access-date=2025-09-24 |website=ams02.space |quote=The solar beta angle, ß, is the angle between the ISS orbital plane and the solar vector (direction from the Sun to the Earth).}}</ref>
* In physics β is used for a [[beta particle]] (an unbound energetic electron or positron).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rutherford |first=E. |date=January 1899 |title=VIII. Uranium radiation and the electrical conduction produced by it |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14786449908621245 |journal=The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science |language=en |volume=47 |issue=284 |pages=109–163 |doi=10.1080/14786449908621245 |issn=1941-5982|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* β is also used in biology, for instance in [[Beta-Carotene|β-Carotene]], a primary source of [[provitamin]] [[Vitamin A|A]], or the [[Β Cells|β cells]] in [[pancreatic islets]], which produce [[insulin]].
* The uppercase letter beta is not generally used as a symbol because it tends to be rendered identically to the uppercase [[B|Latin B]].
* [[Dirichlet beta function]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weisstein |first=Eric W. |title=Dirichlet Beta Function |url=https://mathworld.wolfram.com/DirichletBetaFunction.html |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=mathworld.wolfram.com |language=en}}</ref>

===Rock climbing terminology===
The term "[[Beta (climbing)|beta]]" refers to advice on how to successfully complete a particular climbing route, boulder problem, or crux sequence.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rockandice.com/how-to-climb/climbing-terminology/|title=Rock & Ice – Climbing Terminology|last=Rock and Ice|date=3 October 2016}}</ref>

=== Slang ===
{{main|Alpha and beta male}}

''Beta male'', or simply ''beta'', is a slang term for men derived from the designation for beta animals in ethology, along with its counterpart, ''[[Alpha and beta male|alpha male.]]''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hawley |first1=P. H. |last2=Little |first2=Todd D. |last3=Card |first3=Noel A. |date=January 2008 |title=The myth of the alpha male: A new look at dominance-related beliefs and behaviors among adolescent males and females |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247779752 |journal=International Journal of Behavioral Development |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=76–88|doi=10.1177/0165025407084054 |s2cid=145156929 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hosie |first=Rachel |date=9 May 2017 |title=The Myth of the Alpha Male |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/the-myth-of-the-alpha-male-a7724971.html}}</ref> The term has been used as a pejorative self-identifier among members of [[manosphere]] communities, particularly [[incel]]s, who do not believe they are assertive or traditionally [[masculine]], and feel overlooked by women.<ref name="Jones 2020">{{Cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=Callum |last2=Trott |first2=Verity |last3=Wright |first3=Scott |date=2020 |title=Sluts and soyboys: MGTOW and the production of misogynistic online harassment |journal=New Media & Society |volume=22 |issue=10 |pages=1903–1921 |doi=10.1177/1461444819887141 |s2cid=210530415 |issn=1461-4448 |doi-access=}}</ref><ref name="Nicholas 2018">{{Cite book |last1=Nicholas |first1=Lucy |last2=Agius |first2=Christine |year=2018 |title=The Persistence of Global Masculinism: Discourse, Gender and Neo-Colonial Re-Articulations of Violence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e8I9DwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |location=[[Cham, Switzerland]] |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-68360-7 |isbn=978-3-319-68359-1 |lccn=2017954971 |access-date=2020-07-17 |archive-date=2020-08-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811114131/https://books.google.com/books?id=e8I9DwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live}}</ref> It is also used to negatively describe other men who are not assertive, particularly in [[heterosexual]] relationships.

=== Statistics ===
In statistics, beta may represent [[type II error]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bhandari |first=Pritha |date=2021-01-18 |title=Type I & Type II Errors {{!}} Differences, Examples, Visualizations |url=https://www.scribbr.com/statistics/type-i-and-type-ii-errors/ |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=Scribbr |language=en-US |quote=The probability of making a Type I error is the significance level, or alpha (α), while the probability of making a Type II error is beta (β).}}</ref> or [[regression analysis|regression]] slope.

{{anchor|curled beta|Curled beta}}<!--linked from [[Romanization of Greek]], {{not a typo|[[ϐ]]}}, [[Curled beta]], &c.-->

===Typography===
In some high-quality typesetting, especially in the French tradition, a typographic variant of the lowercase letter without a [[descender]] is used within a word for [[ancient Greek]]: {{Script/Greek|{{lang|grc|βίβλος}}}} is printed {{Script/Greek|{{lang|grc|βί{{not a typo|ϐ}}λος}}}}.<ref name="haralambous">{{cite web|last=Haralambous|first=Yannis|title=From Unicode to typography, a case study: the Greek script|url=http://omega.enstb.org/yannis/pdf/boston99.pdf|year=1999|page=7|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615031345/http://omega.enstb.org/yannis/pdf/boston99.pdf|archive-date=2011-06-15}}</ref>

In typesetting technical literature, it is a commonly made mistake to use the [[ß|German letter ß]] (a s–z or s–s ligature) as a replacement for β. The two letters resemble each other in some fonts, but they are unrelated.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Aguilar Ruiz|first1=Manuel José|title="Las normas ortográficas y ortotipográficas de la nueva Ortografía de la lengua española (2010) aplicadas a las publicaciones biomédicas en español: una visión de conjunto|journal=Panace@|date=2013|volume=14|issue=37|page=104|url=http://www.medtrad.org/panacea/IndiceGeneral/n37-tribuna-MJAguilarRuiz.pdf}}</ref>

===Videotape formats===
"Beta" can be used to refer to several consumer and professional videotape formats developed by Japan's [[Sony|Sony Corporation]]. Although similarly named, they are very different in function and obsolescence.
* [[Betamax]] was the name of a domestic videotape format developed in the 1970s and 1980s. It competed with the Video Home System ([[VHS]]) format developed by the [[JVC|Japanese Victor Company]], to which it eventually succumbed. The Betamax format was also marketed [[Betacord]] by (Sanyo); some cassettes were simply labeled "Beta", and the logo was a lower-case beta. Betamax lost in the market and is an oft-used example of a technically superior solution that failed due to market forces.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Slaughter |first1=Matthew |last2=Rees |first2=Matthew |title=Slaughter & Rees Report: The Betamax Bust and the Future of Global Business |url=https://tuck.dartmouth.edu//news/articles/slaughter-rees-report-the-betamax-bust-and-the-future-of-global-business |access-date=2025-09-24 |website=tuck.dartmouth.edu |language=en |quote=The market failure of Betamax is often held up as an emblem of corporate ineptitude.}}</ref>
* [[Betacam]], including Beta SP and DigiBeta, is a family of professional videotape formats launched in 1982 that was the de facto standard for professional video, advertising, and television production through the 2000s. The formats outlasted analog [[NTSC]] television, and their scarcity today is because the industry has moved to [[High-definition video|HD]] formats.

== Unicode ==

* {{unichar|0392|html=}}
* {{unichar|03B2|html=}} ({{tt|\beta}} in [[TeX]])
* {{unichar|03D0|html=}}
* {{unichar|1D5D|html=}}
* {{unichar|1D66|html=}}
* {{unichar|1DE9|cwith=◌}}
* {{unichar|2C82|html=}}
* {{unichar|2C83|html=}}
* {{unichar|333C|html=}} (Japanese square katakana of {{lang|ja|ベータ}} {{Transliteration|ja|bēta}})
* {{unichar|A7B4|html=}}
* {{unichar|A7B5|html=}}
* {{unichar|10381|html=}}

These characters are used only as mathematical symbols. Stylized Greek text should be encoded using the normal Greek letters, with markup and formatting to indicate text style:

* {{unichar|1D6A9|html=}}
* {{unichar|1D6C3|html=}}
* {{unichar|1D6E3|html=}}
* {{unichar|1D6FD|html=}}
* {{unichar|1D71D|html=}}
* {{unichar|1D737|html=}}
* {{unichar|1D757|html=}}
* {{unichar|1D771|html=}}
* {{unichar|1D791|html=}}
* {{unichar|1D7AB|html=}}

==References==
{{Wiktionary|Β|β}}
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beta (Letter)}}
[[Category:Greek letters]]
[[Category:Phonetic transcription symbols]]