[a. L. alpha, a. Gr. ἄλφα name of the first letter Α; ad. Heb. or Phœnician āleph, meaning ‘ox’ or ‘leader,’ name of the first letter of the Phœnician and Hebrew alphabet, orig. formed from the hieroglyph of an ox’s head.]
1. Name of the letter Α, α, in the Greek alphabet.
1626. Cockeram, Alpha, the first letter of the Greekes.
1751. Chambers, Cycl., s.v., The Greek alpha answers to what in English we call simply A.
2. Hence, The beginning; esp. in phr. Alpha and Omega, ‘the beginning and the end,’ originally of the divine Being.
1382. Wyclif, Rev. i. 8. I am alpha and oo, the bigynnyng and endyng, seith the Lord God. 1526 Tindale, 1582 Rhem., and 1611 ibid., I am Alpha and Omega.
1633. Cowley, Piramus & Thisbe, Ded. But if you smile, if in your gracious Eye She an auspicious Alpha can descry.
1830. Sir J. Herschel, Stud. Nat. Phil., 114. The alpha and omega of science.
1865. Carlyle, Fredk. Gt., VIII. XIX. v. 183. This Siege of Dresden is the alpha to whatever omegas there may be.
3. Used also to indicate the first in numerical sequence. esp. a. Astr. The chief star in a constellation, the letters of the Greek alphabet being used for the first 24 stars in succession. b. Chem. The first of two or more isomerous modifications of the same organic compound. c. The first subspecies or permanent variety of a species in Nat. Hist.
1626. Cockeram, Alpha … also used for the first or chiefe in a thing.
1751. Chambers, Cycl., Alpha is also used as a letter of order, to denote the first.
1863. Watts, Fownes’ Chem. (1877), II. 578. The α-acid is converted by heat into the β-acid.
1869. Dunkin, Midn. Sky, 123. A line drawn through these three stars leads in one direction nearly to Alpha and Beta Capricorni.
1880. Frisnell, in Jrnl. Soc. Arts, 445. The sulphonic acid of alpha naphthol.
