omicron

See also: Omicron, ómicron, òmicron, and ômicron

English

Ancient Greek Alphabet

← xi		→ pi
Ο ο Ancient Greek: ὂ μικρόν
Wikipedia article on omicron

Alternative forms

• Omicron, omikron, Omikron
• o, O
• Ο, ο

Etymology

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

• (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

omicron (plural omicrons or omicra)

1. (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;

   • 1750 [1748 January 10], James Russel, “Letter LI”, in Letters from a Young Painter Abroad to his Friends in England‎^[1], volume II, London: W. Russel, page 120:

     The E serves both for the Epsilon and Eta; the O, both for the Omicron and Omega, and likewise for the dipthong OΥ.

   • 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

omicron (uncountable)

1. (virology, pathology) Ellipsis of Omicron variant.

Derived terms

• omicron strain
• omicron variant
• omicron virus

 

Translations

Greek letter

• Arabic: أُومِيكْرُون m (ʔumikrūn)
• Catalan: òmicron (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 奧米克戎／奥米克戎 (zh) (àomǐkèróng), 奧密克戎／奥密克戎 (zh) (àomìkèróng)

• Czech: omikron (cs)
• Dutch: omikron (nl) m
• Esperanto: omikrono (eo)
• Finnish: omikron (fi)
• French: omicron (fr) m
• German: Omikron (de) n
• Greek: όμικρον (el) n (ómikron)

  Ancient: ὂ μικρόν n (ò mikrón)

• Hungarian: omikron (hu)
• Interlingua: omicron
• Irish: oimiocrón m
• Italian: omicron (it) f
• Japanese: オミクロン (ja) (omikuron)
• Korean: 오미크론 (ko) (omikeuron)
• Malay: omikron
• Maori: omikorōna
• Polish: omikron (pl) m
• Portuguese: ómicron (pt) m, ômicron (pt) m (Brazil)
• Russian: омикро́н (ru) m (omikrón)
• Spanish: ómicron (es) f
• Swedish: omikron (sv)
• Thai: โอไมครอน (oo-mai-krɔ̂n)
• Turkish: omikron

References

• “omicon, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: 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

• moronic, oncomir

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ.mi.kʁɔ̃/, /ɔ.mi.kʁɔn/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

omicron m (plural omicron or omicrons)

1. omicron (Greek letter)

Usage notes

The plural form omicrons is a product of the 1990 spelling reforms.

Further reading

• “omicron”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Noun

omicron m (invariable)

1. omicron (Greek letter)

Anagrams

• cromino

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French omicron.

Noun

omicron m (plural omicron)

1. omicron (Greek letter)

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	omicron	omicronul		omicron	omicroni
genitive-dative	omicron	omicronului		omicron	omicronlor
vocative	omicronule			omicronlor