Omicron - omega
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The Greek alphabet contains two letters which are both transliterated into the Roman alphabet by 'o' (upper case 'O'). They differ in vowel length.
- Omicron (Greek ~ o mikron, 'small o') gave the form of the letter 'o' to the Roman alphabet. The name in English is pronounced 'oh-MIKE-ron', IPA: /əʊ 'maɪkrɒn/ or 'O[as in 'got']-mick-ron', IPA: /'ɒ mɪk rɒn/. The Greek letter forms are Ο and ο. They were used to write the short '-o-' sound.
- Omega (Greek o mega, 'big o'), pronounced in English RP 'OH-mig-ah', IPA: /'əʊ mɪ gə/ or oh-MEE-gah IPA: /əʊ 'miː gə/; American English prefers 'oh-MAY-ga', IPA: /əʊ 'meɪ ga/, which may be closer to the classical Greek pronunciation; although a realization recorded in the 1902 edition of OED may be closer still: 'oh-MEGG-a, IPA: /əʊ 'mɛg a/. The Greek letter forms are Ω and ω. They were used to represent the long -o- sound. Omega was the last letter in the Greek alphabet , equivalent to 'z' in the Roman version. (Its adoption came after the rest of the alphabet had been more or less finalized).
- One common occurrence of omega in western Europe is as half of one of the titles of God in the Christian tradition: "alpha and omega", to mean 'the first and last', 'the A to Z', 'the [original] Creator and [final] Judge', or 'He who contains in Himself all things'. This metaphor is used in other, more secular, writing in the western European tradition.
- The Swiss firm of watchmakers prefers the pronunciation 'oh-ME-ger' (IPA: /əʊ ˈmiː gə/).
- One common occurrence of omega in western Europe is as half of one of the titles of God in the Christian tradition: "alpha and omega", to mean 'the first and last', 'the A to Z', 'the [original] Creator and [final] Judge', or 'He who contains in Himself all things'. This metaphor is used in other, more secular, writing in the western European tradition.