Omega

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Omega_Man,_The :: Omega_Code_Series :: Omega :: Omega_Code,_The :: Omega_Centauri :: Omega_Phi_Beta :: Omega_Delta_Phi :: Omega_Fleet :: Omega_Phi_Chi :: Omega_Pearls

Omega (Ω ω) is the 24th and last letter of the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numeric system it had a value of 800. The word literally means "great O" (ō mega, mega meaning 'great'), as opposed to Omicron, which means "little O" (o mikron, micron meaning 'little').The Greek Alphabet This name is Byzantine; in Classical Greek, the letter was called ō (), whereas the Omicron was called ou ().Herbert Weir Smyth. A Greek Grammar for Colleges. §1

The form of the letter derives from a double omicron, which came to be written open at the top.

Phonetically, the Ancient Greek Ω is a long o, similar to the vowel of English close. It is transcribed ō or simply o. In Modern Greek Ω is a short o similar to the vowel of British English pot.

Omega is often used to denote the last, the end, or the ultimate limit of a set, in contrast to Alpha, the first letter of the Greek Alphabet. Jesus declares himself to be the "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last".Revelation 22:13, KJV, and see also 1:8, Greek .

Omega was also adopted into the early Cyrillic alphabet. See omega (Cyrillic) (Ѡ, ѡ). A Raetic variant is at the origin of Elder Futhark ᛟ.

The symbol Ω (upper case letter)

The upper-case letter Ω is used as a symbol, it is also used often outside its Greek alphabetical context in literature, advertising and other forms of human expression.

Some Uses of Omega

The distinctive trade mark of Omega Engineering, Inc, USA. ^*
Omega is a famous Hungarian rock group from the 1970s and 1980s.
In the late 1960s United States, it was used as an icon/symbol for draft resistance.
Codex Athous Dionysii, an 8th/9th century uncial Greek manuscript of the Gospels on Mount Athos
For the Lebanese political party: the Free Patriotic Movement
The logo of Lululemon Athletica is often mistaken for a stylized Ω, but the company claims it is in fact a stylized A.
On bobsled, luge, and skeleton tracks, it is a combination of one left turn, followed by three successive right turns, followed by another left turn (or vice versa) that looks like the Greek letter Ω. All tracks have this Ω curves in them in one form or fashion.
Since Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet, it sometimes represents the end. The bible contains the phrase "I am the alpha and the omega" meaning "the beginning and the end," and is a Christian reference to God.

In science

For ohm — SI unit of electrical resistance; formerly also used upside down (℧) to represent mho, the old name for the inverse of an ohm (now siemens with symbol S) used for electrical conductance. Unicode has a separate code point for the ohm sign (U+2126), but it is only included for backwards compatibility and the Greek uppercase omega character (U+03A9, Ω) is preferred.
In computer science, in notation related to Big O notation to describe the asymptotic behavior of functions. See also Chaitin's constant
Omega Point, a theory about computing at the end of the universe
In mathematics, the Omega constant, a solution of Lambert's W function; or the first uncountable ordinal number (also known as $\omega_1$ )
In physics, the solid angle.
In particle physics to represent the Omega baryons. A lowercase omega is used for the omega mesons.
In combinatory logic, the looping combinator, (λ x. x x) (λ x. x x)
In astronomy (cosmology) Ω refers to the density of the universe, also called the density parameter.

In Popular Culture and Fiction

In the film the Matrix Reloaded one of Agent Smith's lines from echoes the biblical phrase as well, with Smith calling himself the Alpha of Neo's Omega, or the beginning of his end.
The film "The Omega Man", whose main character became the last living human
Naoki Maeda's pseudonym for the Dance Dance Revolution song "MAX 300"
On the NBC soap opera Passions the omega symbol is being featured frequently as part of the Passions Vendetta storyline.
The Ultramarines in Warhammer 40000 use an inverted omega for their unit insignia.
In Voyager, the Omega Particle was told to be an element so unstable that an explosion of only a few molecules could destabilise sub-space in a region of several light years.
A villain in Marvel Comics named Omega Red has a golden Ω symbol on his headband.
In the Transformers (toyline), Omega Supreme was a member of the autobots.
In Power Rangers Space Patrol Delta the Omega Ranger was identified as Sam as an adult.
In the Langrisser series, a character named Omega was featured.
The fictitious band which is portrayed playing half of Marilyn Manson's 1998 album Mechanical Animals is called "Omega and the Mechanical Animals."

In computer and video games

The symbol was on Cassandra's shield in Soul Calibur 2
In Mega Man Zero games, the utopia Neo Arcadia bears the Ω symbol during the course of the game. Ω is also used as a boss' allegiance symbol until Mega Man Zero 3.
In the PS2 game God of War Ω is used in many different areas including the title where the symbol surrounds "Of".
Sonic Heroes introduced a new robot from the E-100 series, E-123 Omega.
Japan-only guidebooks for Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy X, and Final Fantasy X-2 were published under the name Ultimania Ω.
In the game Earthbound this is the strongest form of a PSI attack.
In the Online Computer Game called Maple Story a weapon called the Omega Spear has the shape of the Omega sign attached to a rod
In the Computer Video Game, Freelancer (computer game). It is featured in the name of numerous solar systems.
In the Street Fighter III video game series, the character Remy bears the symbol on his jacket.
In Ace Combat 4, there is a squadron named Omega. Some of its pilots fly along with you throughout every mission.
In the IL2 Forgotten Battles community, there is a virtual squadron called the Omega Air Command, which use Ω markings on their planes.
In World of Warcraft there is a famous guild called Omega on the Runetotem EU, Alliance server.
In the blockbuster thriller the warp, Omega Ω is the name of the malicious villian.

The symbol ω (lower-case letter)

The lower-case letter ω is used as a symbol:

In textual criticism, the archetype of a manuscript tradition
In physics, angular velocity
In mathematics, the first transfinite ordinal number
In number theory, an arithmetic function
In combinatory logic, the self-application combinator, (λ x. x x)
In computer science, in notation related to Big O notation, the asymptotically dominant nature of functions
In Astronomy, as a ranking of a star's brightness
In particle physics to represent the omega meson
In Circuit Analysis and Signal Processing to represent frequency.
In Biochemistry to denote the carbon atom furthest from the carboxyl group of a fatty acid.
Used in place of ん in Japanese typing shorthand.

Notes

Greek letters | Vowel letters