# Talk:Omega

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## Pronunciation

'Raw' in a New York accent is not sufficient for many people such as I, a 2nd language Queen's English (British) speaker. I find American English hard to envisage in itself. Perhaps another example? Or more than one?--94.192.80.191 (talk) 16:05, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

Since there's a pronunciation section, I thought I'd put this here - is there any chance of adding an IPA English pronunciation (for both UK and US if they're different) to this page? I've noticed some pages on Greek letters have it (such as theta), while others don't. Sorry if this is in the wrong spot, this is the first time I've edited a talk page. Yurell (talk) 02:12, 22 May 2011 (UTC)

## Numeric value

Who assigned a 'numeric value' of 800 to omega? And on what grounds? That's more interesting than the number itself. Otherwise it belongs in the as legend has it file!User:Wetman Letters of greek language are used as 'signs' for mathematics.

This refers to th β was 2, λ was 20, and so on. The word 'numeric' in 'numeric value' is linked to the article on Greek numerals, which explains this. -- Dominus

By the way, they used to write only with capital letters and the small ones were the numbers. Geocapital

\is the "big O" mentioned here literally translated from, and if Omega is literally big O, why isn't it used as the symbol for "Big O notation" instead of Omicron?

There are two Greek letters that transliterate into the English letter O. One of them is omicron, and the other is omega. The Greek word omega means, literally, big O; you can see mega (big) in there (think megaphone or megalopolis or megabyte or any other word that contains mega). The Greek word omicron means little O; you can see micro (little) in there (think microscope or microbrew or Micro Machines).
"Big O notation" wasn't invented until much later. The name "big O" in this case refers to the omicron which is used, which looks like a capital letter O. So "big O" here means "capital O", even though technically it's an omicron, not an O.
Hope this makes things clearer. —Bkell 23:15, 11 Apr 2004 (UTC)

## The symbol for Omega

How was the the symbol for Omega formed? I once heard that the capital letter was formed as an O with an underbar, and that the lower case letter consisted simply of two o's, but I don't know whether this is correct.

Why was omega listed in both the upper and lower case "symbol" sections? It was listed in one as the first transfinite ordinal, and in the other as the first uncountable ordinal. Aren't these one and the same symbol, which is written in lower case? Jamie 03:47, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

The first transfinite ordinal (the union of all finite ordinals) is not the same as the first uncountable ordinal (the union of all countable ordinals). I'm not familiar with the use of upper case Ω for the latter (the usual designation is $\omega_1$). Hylas 21:11, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

03c9[Alt]X in MS Word. Elsewheres I'm not sure.OneWeirdDude 00:32, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

or load the greek alphabet and it's on the letter V. Geocapital 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Hello. I thought I should mention that, normally, when handwriting in modern Greek uppercase omega is written as an underlined omicron. I thought this is an important piece of information, but I don't really know the relation between the typed form and the handwritten one. If there is anyone who knows more on the subject, this could be a useful addition. 76.15.234.182 (talk) 02:57, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

## Upper case omega in reality

Just thought I'd add this and leave it up to regular editors to decide whether or not it's worth inclusion: Many species of catfish - specifically plecostomus species and others in the same family (Loricariidae) have an eye (iris) structure that is refered to as 'Omega eye' simply because of its remarkable similarity to the upper case symbol for omega. See http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/loricariids.htm and Plecostomus and here an image http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/other/Friedel149.jpg. The omega is of course upside down.HappyVR 18:36, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

## OMEGA FOR DUMMIES

Omega is the last letter of the greek alphabet

## Lengthy lists to text nonsense

I totally disagree with the tag somebody has slapped on this article. The lists should remain as they are. Gene Nygaard 12:46, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Since there is no explanation of the issue on this talk page, I've gone ahead and deleted it. 192.35.100.1 03:05, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

## removal

I've removed this:

The Omega symbol is now to be represented as one on the six numbers that formulate the universe founded by Martin J. Rees.The cosmic number omega measures the amount of material in our Universe - galaxies, diffuse gas, and 'dark matter'. Omega tells us the relative importance of gravity and expansion energy in the Universe. A universe within which omega was too high would have collapsed long ago; had omega been too low, no galaxies would have formed. The inflationary theory of the Big Bang says omega should be one; astronomers have yet to measure its exact value.[citation needed]

I don't think this is worthy in it's present state to be in the main text - and it needs i bit of rewriting as well - suggest re-inclusion into the section "omega (upper case)" when it has been properly cited.87.102.36.82 16:04, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

## Association with Death

Why no mention of this?--John 22:01, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

I agree. Omega can be quite a symbolic letter, the symbolism is important. --94.192.80.191 (talk) 16:05, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

## Removal

I removed this "*The distinctive trade mark of Omega Engineering, Inc." - reasons, firstly it doesn't quite seem to be an omega - though it contains an omega motif, also the Pioneer Corporation used to have an omega as a symbol on its products. Most importantly almost all the references to 'omega in popular culture' are gone - this one is not majorly notable - so it goes too.83.100.158.13 20:26, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Also this "In automobiles, the 1983 Oldsmobile Omega." - can't even see an omega on this on. Same reasons as above.83.100.158.13 20:30, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

## removal

removed various popular culture references - star trek etc Star trek has nothing to do w/ omega.

## lower-case omega

In the section for use of lower-case omega, it can be added that lower-case omega is used for "specfic turbulence dissipation rate" which is commonly used in turbulence modelling for fluid dynamics. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.216.89.244 (talk) 08:20, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

## picture blocking text

The top left corner of the picture with the greek alphabet is blocking part of the text. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Diablod666 (talkcontribs) 12:18, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

## misc

What on earth is "English dialect RP?" Needs an explanation, hyperlink or so?

## Font?

Is there a proper font that the Omega symbol sould be in? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.32.84.204 (talk) 15:02, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

## Edit request from 94.128.50.5, 30 October 2010

{{edit semi-protected}}

94.128.50.5 (talk) 20:49, 30 October 2010 (UTC)

Not done: please be more specific about what needs to be changed. Favonian (talk) 21:43, 30 October 2010 (UTC)

## ohm symbols

could also mention the SQUARE K OHM (U+33C0) ㏀ and SQUARE M OHM (U+33C1) ㏁ symbols. I would imagine they are only included for backwards compatibility with CJK, and the recommendation is to write "kΩ" and "MΩ" instead. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.167.60.251 (talk) 20:53, 8 April 2011 (UTC)

## Edit request

In the section "The symbol ω (minuscule letter)" the second bullet point and the fifth bullet point are both physics. I would personally cut the information from the fifth and paste it into the second, so that the order of bullets is the same as the order in "The symbol ω (majuscule letter)". Pattyewhs (talk) 20:47, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

Done I have merged the two using the same order as the majuscale letter section. Thanks for the comment, Woody (talk) 21:02, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

As far as I know, the omega totative of any radix is the radix number - 1. There is also the alpha, which is one larger than the base. In decimal, for example, the omega is 9 (10 - 1) and the alpha is 11 (10 + 1). Both of these are worth note due to their special properties in their respective bases. However, I do not know if these are standard terms. I have only heard of them from someone on a message board. Does anyone else know more? N4m3 (talk) 20:49, 9 July 2011 (UTC)

## Edit request from Nicnic09, 29 September 2011

Please add to fiction section 'Omega sign used by and to represent the character Omega on the BBC sci-fi Doctor Who' varified by ' http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Omega ' because it is very important in Doctor who, used over about 40 years, and is important to fans worldwide.

Nicnic09 (talk) 14:50, 29 September 2011 (UTC)

DoneBility (talk) 17:18, 3 October 2011 (UTC)

## Edit request from , 8 October 2011

186.214.212.107 (talk) 17:53, 8 October 2011 (UTC)

Not done: please be more specific about what needs to be changed. Avicennasis @ 19:59, 10 Tishrei 5772 / 19:59, 8 October 2011 (UTC)

hey someone add me — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.59.210.57 (talk) 09:39, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

## Removal

I removed the line quoting Jesus from the Christian bible. It was unobjective and irrelevant to the Greek letter. If a section was added for popular culture refrences, it might fit better. Mequellios (talk) 02:34, 28 May 2013 (UTC)

I disagree with this removal. The English speaking world is largely Christian, and the connection to Jesus' declaration is one of the most significant aspects of the Omega in English. I believe the prominence of this connection deserves mention in the ledge. WikiDan61ChatMe!ReadMe!! 04:10, 28 May 2013 (UTC)
The line was awkward and out of place in that particular paragraph. While not ideally written (that whole last part of that section is a bit of a mess), I've added the Christianity reference back in, with a bit more objectivity. Mequellios (talk) 08:46, 28 May 2013 (UTC)
Thank you. I don't agree that the original text was awkward, but I like how you've reintroduced it. WikiDan61ChatMe!ReadMe!! 10:39, 28 May 2013 (UTC)