English
beta
see also: Beta
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈbiːtə/
  • (America) enPR: bāʹtə, IPA: /ˈbeɪtə/
Noun

beta (plural betas)

  1. The second letter of the Greek alphabet (Β,  β), preceded by alpha (Α,  α) and followed by gamma, (Γ,  γ). In modern Greek it represents the voiced labiodental fricative sound of v found in the English words have and vase.
  2. Used in marking scheme: α, β, γ or α+, α, α-, β etc.
  3. (finance) Average sensitivity of a security's price to overall securities market prices.
  4. (computing, video games, uncountable) The phase of development after alpha testing and before launch, in which software, while not complete, has been released to potential users for testing.
    The company is offering a public beta program to test the software.
  5. (computing, video games, countable) Software in such a phase; a preliminary version.
    • 2007, Michael Lopp, Managing Humans (page 107)
      He quickly deduced our goal—ship a quality beta—but he also quickly discerned that we had no idea about the quality of the product because of our pile of untriaged bugs.
  6. (climbing) Information about a route which may aid someone in climbing it.
  7. (physics) A beta particle or beta ray.
  8. Alternative spelling of betta
  9. (slang, manosphere) Ellipsis of beta male#English|beta male, a man who is less competent or desirable than an alpha male.
    • 2006, Catherine Mann, Blaze of Glory, Harlequin (2006), ISBN 9781459228252, unnumbered page ↗:
      “I guess in your psychological language of alpha males and beta males, I would be firmly in the camp that prefers the more laid-back betas,” she took a deep breath, “like your father.”
    • 2010, L. A. Banks, "Dog Tired (of the Drama!)", in Blood Lite II: Overbite (ed. Kevin J. Anderson), Gallery Books (2010), ISBN 9781439187654, page 121 ↗:
      “They want sexy, virile alpha males, yes? But that doesn't come with sensitive and loyal and all of that. That's a beta. A frickin' collie, Lola. […]
    • 2010, Terry Spear, Wolf Fever, Sourcebooks Casablanca (2010), ISBN 9781402237577, page 24 ↗:
      She'd always had a thing for alpha males. Not that she had any intention of being bossed around, even if one had her best interests at heart. Her fascination with alphas was that they were a challenge. Betas didn't hold much of an appeal.
  10. (fandom) In omegaverse fiction, a person of a (usually secondary) gender/sex that mirrors the biology of a normal human, being free from the biological drives of alphas and omegas but generally capable of bonding and mating with either.
    • 2013, Kristina Busse, "Pon Farr, Mpreg, Bonds, and the Rise of the Omegaverse", in Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World (ed. Anne Jamison), [https://books.google.com/books?id=GBwVAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA317&dq=%22everyone+else+(betas)%22 page 317]:
      Many A/B/O stories posit societies where biological imperatives divide people based on wolf pack hierarchies into sexual dominants (alphas), sexual submissives (omegas), and everyone else (betas).
    • 2017, Marianne Gunderson, "What is an omega? Rewriting sex and gender in omegaverse fanfiction", thesis submitted to the University of Oslo, page 99 ↗:
      In ASD, the beta also functions as a contrast, as Yuri is assumed to be a beta before his first heat reveals his omega status.
    • 2018, Laura Campillo Arnaiz, "When the Omega Empath Met the Alpha Doctor: An Analysis of Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics in the Hannibal Fandom", in The Darker Side of Slash Fan Fiction (ed. Ashton Spacey), page 119:
      Betas are usually second in command to the reigning alpha, and omegas belong to the lowest caste of the social hierarchy.
Translations Adjective

beta (not comparable)

  1. Identifying a molecular position in an organic chemical compound.
  2. Designates the second in an order of precedence.
  3. (computing) Preliminary; prerelease. Refers to an incomplete version of a product released for initial testing.
  4. (of a person, object or action) associated with the beta male/female archetype.
Translations Verb

beta (betas, present participle betaing; past and past participle betaed)

  1. (computing) To preliminarily release computer software for initial testing prior to final release.
  2. (chiefly, Internet) To beta-read a text.
    • 1999, sqira a., in alt.tv.x-files.creative
      My thanks to Heather; who read it and betaed it. Thank you.
    • 2000, Elizabeth Durack, quoted in Angelina I. Karpovich, “The Audience as Editor: The Role of Beta Readers in Online Fan Fiction Communities” (essay), in Karen Hellekson and Kristina Busse (editors), Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet, McFarland (2006), ISBN 9780786426409, page 180,
      Beta’ing is time-consuming, so asking a lot of people to give you a detailed analysis isn’t the most polite thing to do.
    • 2002, Jane Davitt, in alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer.creative
      The next part is written and beta'd (thanks, Jen!), ready to go but <shuffles feet> I haven't even started what should be the final part yet.
    • 2002, Karmen Ghia, in alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated
      I had the honor of betaing this story and as I was doing the first read through I had the odd, but lovely, experience when a story suspends the reader in its own rhythm and flow, its own reality.
Beta
Proper noun
  1. Betamax.
    • 2011, Anthony Q. Artis, The Shut Up and Shoot Freelance Video Guide
      The digital revolution is changing these rules, but as of this writing, generally you submit your music video to the network for review on Beta tape.


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