# beta

Pronunciation: US say "BAY-tuh" /ˈbeɪtə/; UK say "BEE-tuh" /ˈbiːtə/

## Noun

1. The second letter of the Greek alphabet (Β, β), coming after alpha and before gamma; in modern Greek it stands for the v sound heard in have and vase.
   - Simple: The second letter of the Greek alphabet, written Β or β. In modern Greek it sounds like v.
   - _In modern Greek a beta is said like an English v, not like a b._
   - _In some fonts the lowercase beta, with its tall loop, is easy to mistake for a German ß._
2. The stage of software development after alpha testing and before launch, when an unfinished version has been released to potential users for testing.
   - Simple: The time when unfinished software is given to some users to test before it comes out.
   - _During beta, the developers collect crash reports from thousands of volunteer testers._
   - _The email service spent years in beta, long after millions of people were already using it._
3. A preliminary version of software, released to users for testing while still unfinished, between alpha testing and the final launch.
   - Simple: An early, unfinished version of a computer program that people can try and test.
   - _Developers received the first beta of the operating system update three months before its public release._
   - _Avoid installing betas on the laptop you rely on for work._
5. Short for beta male, a man regarded as less competent or desirable than an alpha male. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Short for beta male. Slang for a man seen as less capable or less attractive than an alpha male.
   - _The forum's regulars dismissed anyone who disagreed with them as a beta._
   - _Tired of swaggering men, she found herself drawn to a loyal, easygoing beta._
6. A particle or ray of radiation, called in full a beta particle or a beta ray.
   - Simple: A tiny particle or ray of radiation. Its full name is beta particle or beta ray.
   - _The detector registered a beta every few seconds while the sample sat beside it._
   - _A few millimeters of aluminum will stop most betas from this source._
7. The average sensitivity of a security's price to movements in the prices of the securities market as a whole.
   - Simple: A number showing how much the price of a stock or bond tends to move with the whole market.
   - _With a beta of 1.3, the shares have tended to rise and fall about 30 percent more than the broader market._
   - _Analysts estimated the fund's beta from five years of monthly returns._
11. Information about a climbing route that can help a climber get up it.
   - Simple: Information about a climbing route that helps a person climb it.
   - _Before trying the overhang, he asked the local climbers for beta on the crux._
   - _The guidebook's beta for the third pitch turned out to be out of date._
13. An affectionate form of address for a friend, a child, or someone else of equal or lower standing, comparable to calling someone son or brother. *(dialectal, Hinglish, India, North, Pakistan)* (pronounced: say "BAY-tah" US /ˈbeɪtɑ/, UK /ˈbeɪtɑː/)
   - Simple: A loving name for a friend or a child, a bit like calling someone son or brother.
   - _Relax, beta, I've already booked tickets for all of us._
   - _Beta, call me as soon as you reach the station, okay?_
15. Alternative spelling of betta. — Alternative spelling of betta (“fish in the genus Betta”).
   - Simple: Alternative spelling of betta. Used for a kind of fish, such as the Siamese fighting fish.
   - _A male beta will flare its fins at its own reflection in the glass._
   - _She set up a heated tank for her new beta before bringing it home._
16. Content of any kind made early in a product's development but left out of the finished version. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: Things made early on for a game or other product but left out of the finished version.
   - _Data miners keep turning up betas in the game files, from unused enemies to whole abandoned levels._
   - _One beta still buried in the files is an entire desert level that never made it into the released game._
17. In omegaverse fiction, a person of a secondary sex much like ordinary humans, without the biological drives of alphas and omegas but usually able to bond and mate with either. *(slang)*
   - Simple: In omegaverse fan fiction, a person like an ordinary human, without the strong urges alphas and omegas have.
   - _Readers spend half the fic convinced the detective is a beta, since he never reacts to the alphas around him._
   - _In this omegaverse setting, betas keep the city running while alphas fight over territory._
19. The sideslip angle of an aircraft: the sideways angle between the direction it moves through the air and the direction its nose points.
   - Simple: The sideways angle between where a plane's nose points and the way it is really moving through the air.
   - _The flight-control computer limits beta so the jet cannot slip too far sideways._
   - _Engineers plotted side force and yawing moment against beta from the wind-tunnel data._
20. A range of power settings in which the throttle lever directly sets the blade angle of a constant-speed propeller, so the blades can be flattened to create heavy drag and slow the aircraft quickly.
   - Simple: Power settings in which the pilot directly sets the angle of the propeller blades, which can then slow the plane quickly.
   - _As the wheels touched down, she pulled the power levers into beta and the airplane slowed sharply._
   - _The checklist warns pilots never to select beta while the aircraft is still in the air._

## Adjective

4. Describing a preliminary, incomplete version of a product that is released for initial testing ahead of the finished one.
   - Simple: Describes an early, unfinished version of something that is given out so people can test it.
   - _Users of the beta release reported that the export button did nothing._
   - _The phone maker pushed beta firmware to a few thousand volunteers before the official update._
8. Associated with the beta male or beta female archetype, whether describing a person, an object or an action.
   - Simple: Typical of a beta male or beta female, a person seen as less in charge than an alpha.
   - _Commenters mocked the actor's tearful apology as beta behavior._
   - _To the men on that forum, everything from splitting the check to driving a small car counted as beta._
9. Ranking second in an order of precedence, immediately below the first.
   - Simple: Second in rank, coming just after the one at the top.
   - _When the pack leader was injured, the beta wolf took over and led the hunts._
   - _In the chimpanzee troop, the beta chimp backed the leader in every dispute._
14. Denoting a particular position in the molecular structure of an organic compound.
   - Simple: Used to name one particular place in the molecule of an organic chemical.
   - _Elimination reactions often remove a hydrogen from the beta carbon._
   - _Numbering the chain showed that the bromine sat at the beta position, not the alpha._

## Verb

10. To release computer software in an early, preliminary form for initial testing before its final release.
   - Simple: To put out an early version of a computer program so people can test it before the final one.
   - _Small developers often beta their apps with a few hundred volunteers before submitting them to an app store._
   - _The bank betaed its redesigned website with select customers and fixed dozens of bugs before the general launch._
12. To read someone's draft and give feedback on it before it is published, as a beta reader does.
   - Simple: To read someone's writing before it is shared and help them fix problems.
   - _She agreed to beta the last three chapters before the fic went up on the archive._
   - _Thanks to Sam for betaing this story on such short notice!_

## Noun

18. A grade given for academic work, ranking above a gamma and below an alpha. *(rare)*
   - Simple: A grade for schoolwork that is better than a gamma but worse than an alpha.
   - _Her dissertation chapter came back marked with a beta plus and a page of comments._
   - _The tutor rarely gave anything above a beta, so an alpha minus felt like a triumph._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–12, 14–20** — From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta). It is a doublet of beth.
**Meaning 13** — From Hindi बेटा (beṭā).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/beta (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).