Omega

Omega (US: /oʊˈmeɪɡə, -ˈmɛɡə, -ˈmiːɡə/, UK: /ˈoʊmɪɡə/;^[1] uppercase Ω, lowercase ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) 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 word literally means "great O" (o mega, mega meaning "great"), as opposed to omicron, which means "little O" (o mikron, micron meaning "little").^[2]

In phonetic terms, the Ancient Greek Ω represented a long open-mid back rounded vowel IPA: [ɔː], comparable to the "aw" of the English word raw in dialects without the cot–caught merger, in contrast to omicron which represented the close-mid back rounded vowel IPA: [o] , and the digraph ου which represented the long close-mid back rounded vowel IPA: [oː]. In Modern Greek, both omega and omicron represent the mid back rounded vowel IPA: [o̞] or IPA: [ɔ̝]. 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.

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

[1] Wells, John C. (2008). "omega". Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.

[2] "The Greek Alphabet".

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