ω

o

Phö.

Ara.

Gri. 24 Ω, ω Omega (ὦ μέγα) Trannscription ō

Etr.

Lat.

Rune

Dt.

• Ursprung
  • Ω was not part of the early (8th century BC) Greek alphabets. It was introduced in the late 7th century BC in the Ionian cities of Asia Minor to denote the long half-open [ɔː]. It is a variant of omicron (Ο), broken up at the side (), with the edges subsequently turned outward (, , , ).^[3] The Dorian city of Knidos as well as a few Aegean islands, namely Paros, Thasos and Melos, chose the exact opposite innovation, using a broken-up circle for the short and a closed circle for the long /o/.^[3]
  • The word literally means "great O" (ō mega, mega meaning "great"), as opposed to Ο ο omicron, which means "little O" (o mikron, micron meaning „little“).^[2]
  • The name Ωμέγα is Byzantine; in Classical Greek, the letter was called ō (ὦ), whereas the omicron was called ou (οὖ).
  • A Raetic variant is conjectured to be at the origin or parallel evolution of the Elder Futhark ᛟ.
  • The letter omega is transcribed ō or simply o.
• Verwendung
  • Omega wird häufig verwendet, um ein Ende zu verdeutlichen, und ist damit das Gegenteil vom Anfang, dem Alpha (Alpha und Omega oder „Das A und O“). In sozialen Gruppen bei Tieren wird das letzte Tier in der Rangordnung als das Omega-Tier bezeichnet (siehe hierzu unter Alpha-Tier).
  • Siehe Verwendung Omega