Omega

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Greek alphabet
[[Image:Greek alphabet {{{letter\|alpha-omega}}}.png\| 200px\|center]]
Α α Alpha	Β β Beta
Γ γ Gamma	Δ δ Delta
Ε ε Epsilon	Ζ ζ Zeta
Η η Eta	Θ θ Theta
Ι ι Iota	Κ κ Kappa
Λ λ Lambda	Μ μ Mu
Ν ν Nu	Ξ ξ Xi
Ο ο Omicron	Π π Pi
Ρ ρ Rho	Σ σ ς Sigma
Τ τ Tau	Υ υ Upsilon
Φ φ Phi	Χ χ Chi
Ψ ψ Psi	Ω ω Omega
obsolete letters
Image:Greek alphabet digamma2.png Digamma	Image:Greek alphabet san.png San
Image:Greek alphabet qoppa.png Qoppa	Image:Greek alphabet sampi.png Sampi
Image:Greek alphabet stigma.png Stigma	Image:Greek alphabet sho.png Sho

Template:SpecialCharsNote

For other uses, see Omega (disambiguation).

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 "big O" (ō mega, mega meaning 'big'), as opposed to Omicron, which means "little O" (o mikron, micron meaning 'little').[1] This name is Byzantine; in Classical Greek, the letter was called ō (Template:Polytonic), whereas the Omicron was called ou (Template:Polytonic).

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 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 Template:Polytonic. Image:Wikipedia-logo.png Omega was also adopted into the early Cyrillic alphabet. See omega (Cyrillic) (Ѡ, ѡ).

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The symbol Ω (upper-case letter)

The upper-case letter Ω is used as a symbol:

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 the late 1960s United States, it was used as an icon/symbol for draft resistance.
In computer science, in notation related to Big O notation to describe the asymptotic behavior of functions. See also Chaitin's constant
Codex Athous Dionysii, an 8th/9th century uncial Greek manuscript of the Gospels on Mount Athos
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 <math>\omega_1</math>)
In physics, the solid angle.
In particle physics to represent the Omega baryons. A lowercase omega is used for the omega mesons.
Naoki Maeda's pseudonym for the Dance Dance Revolution song "MAX 300"
In combinatory logic, the looping combinator, (λ x. x x)(λ x. x x)
For the Lebanese political party: the Free Patriotic Movement
A Prestige Swiss watch company named Omega [[2]]

The logo of Lululemon Athletica is often mistaken for a stylized Ω, but the company claims it is in fact a stylized A.

Since Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet, it sometimes represents the end. The saying "alpha and the omega" means "the beginning and the end," and is also a Christian reference to Jesus. References in popular culture include a movie titled "The Omega Man", whose main character became the last living human. One of Agent Smith's lines from the Matrix Reloaded echoes the biblical phrase as well, with Smith calling himself the Alpha of Neo's Omega, or the beginning of his end.