Etymology

alpha

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Today 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. Full definition →

Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha) ← Phoenician 𐤀𐤋𐤐 (ʾlp) ← Proto-Semitic *ʔalp-
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The story

  1. Proto-Semitic*ʔalp-
  2. Phoenician𐤀𐤋𐤐 (ʾlp)
  3. Ancient Greekἄλφα (álpha)
  4. English todayalpha

From the Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), the first letter of the Greek alphabet, from the Phoenician 𐤀 (ʾ, “aleph”). Doublet of alif and aleph.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.