omicron
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English
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Wikipedia article on omicron |
Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Latin omicron, from Koine Greek ὂ μῑκρόν (ò mīkrón, “little o”), named in contrast with omega (“big o”). The uncommon form omicra is similarly borrowed from Latin and Greek. The use for designating stars in a constellation—typically in order of apparent brightness—began with Johann Bayer's 1603 Uranometria.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɒmɪkɹɒn/, /ˈɒmɪkɹən/, /ˈəʊmɪkɹɒn/, /əʊˈmaɪkɹɒn/, /əʊˈmaɪkɹən/, /əˈmaɪkɹɒn/, /əˈmaɪkɹən/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈoʊməˌkɹɑn/, /ˈoʊmɪˌkɹɑn/, /ˈɑməˌkɹɑn/, /ˈɑmɪˌkɹɑn/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -aɪkɹɒn
- Homophone: Omicron
Noun
[edit]omicron (plural omicrons or omicra)
- (sometimes capitalized) The 15th letter of the Classical and Modern Greek alphabets (16th in Ancient and Old Greek), used in ordering lists as in naming (astronomy) the 15th star of a constellation or (epidemiology) the 15th discovered major variant of a disease.
- 1656 [1612], Henry, Earl of Monmouth, transl., I Raggvagli di Parnasso: or Advertisements from Parnassus, London: Humphrey Moseley, translation of De Ragguagli di Parnaso by Traiano Boccalini, page 180:
- Your Majestie knows that unfortunate I [...] was the first who when I published my Poem of Italia Liberata endeavoured to bring the Omicron, Eupselon, Omega, and other Greek Letters, which I thought very requisite for that language, into my own Tongue;
- 1992 July, Astronomy Now, No. 36, p. 1:
- ... They include Mira itself (omicron Ceti) which can be seen shortly before dawn.
- 2021 November 27, Vimal Patel, "How Omicron, the New Covid-19 Variant, Got Its Name", New York Times:
- There are now seven “variants of interest” or “variants of concern” and they each have a Greek letter, according to a W.H.O. tracking page. Some other variants with Greek letters do not reach those classification levels, and the W.H.O. also skipped two letters just before Omicron — “Nu” and “Xi” — leading to speculation about whether “Xi” was avoided in deference to the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.
Noun
[edit]omicron (uncountable)
- (virology, pathology) Ellipsis of Omicron variant.
Translations
[edit]Greek letter
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References
[edit]- “omicon, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2021.
- “omicron”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- Hauser, Christine. "How Do You Say 'Omicron'?" New York Times, 30 November 2021.
- West, James. "I Asked Seven Classics Experts How to Say 'Omicron'..." Mother Jones, 30 November 2021.
Anagrams
[edit]French
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]omicron m (plural omicron or omicrons)
- omicron (Greek letter)
Usage notes
[edit]The plural form omicrons is a product of the 1990 spelling reforms.
Further reading
[edit]- “omicron”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian
[edit]Noun
[edit]omicron m (invariable)
- omicron (Greek letter)
Anagrams
[edit]Romanian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Noun
[edit]omicron m (plural omicron)
- omicron (Greek letter)
Declension
[edit]Declension of omicron
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) omicron | omicronul | (niște) omicron | omicroni |
genitive/dative | (unui) omicron | omicronului | (unor) omicron | omicronlor |
vocative | omicronule | omicronlor |
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Koine Greek
- English 3-syllable words
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- Rhymes:English/aɪkɹɒn
- Rhymes:English/aɪkɹɒn/3 syllables
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- en:Astronomy
- en:Epidemiology
- English terms with quotations
- English uncountable nouns
- en:Virology
- en:Pathology
- English ellipses
- en:Greek letter names
- en:Coronavirus
- French 3-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
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- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- fr:Greek letter names
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- it:Greek letter names
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