alpha
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
5 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "alpha", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "alpha" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "alpha" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
alpha is aEnglishnoun. It means: The name of the first letter of the Greek alphabet (Α, α), followed by beta. In the Latin alphabet it is the predecessor to A. Pronounced /ˈælfə/. It ranks #4,651 in English word frequency. Often confused with apa and Alps.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | alpha |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈælfə/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #4,651 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for alpha is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈælfə/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,651 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 13 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for alpha, with forms such as "alhpa", "allpha", and "alpah". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "apa", "Alps", "alta", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Egyptian 𓃾der. Phoenician 𐤀 (ʾ /ʾālep/)bor. Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha)bor. English alpha From the Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), the first letter of the Greek alphabet, from the Phoenician 𐤀 (ʾ, “aleph”). Doublet of alif and aleph. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is alpha, spelled A-L-P-H-A, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1The name of the first letter of the Greek alphabet (Α, α), followed by beta. In the Latin alphabet it is the predecessor to A.
- 2Latin alpha: the Latin letter Ɑ (minuscule: ɑ).
- 3The name of the symbols Α and α used in science and mathematics, often interchangeable with the symbols when used as a prefix.
- 4The return of a given asset or portfolio adjusted for systematic risk.
- 5A person, especially a male, who is dominant, successful and attractive; (see alpha male).
- 6Clipping of alphabet.
- 7The first versions of a program, usually only available to the developer, and only tested by the developer.
- 8An angle of attack.
- 9The level of translucency of a color, as determined by the alpha channel.
- 10Ellipsis of alpha layer.
- 11The significance level of a statistical test; the alpha level.
- 12In omegaverse fiction, a person of a dominant secondary sex driven by biology, magic, or other means to bond with an omega, with males of this type often having canine-like genitalia.
- 13Alternative letter-case form of Alpha (“member of Generation Alpha”).
Etymology
Etymology tree Egyptian 𓃾der. Phoenician 𐤀 (ʾ /ʾālep/)bor. Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha)bor. English alpha From the Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), the first letter of the Greek alphabet, from the Phoenician 𐤀 (ʾ, “aleph”). Doublet of alif and aleph.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: alhpa,allpha,alpah,alphha,alppha,aplha,lapha
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for alpha
Misspelling Variants of "alpha"
Frequency rank: #4,651 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter A in our English index: