theta

See also: Theta, théta, thêta, and þeta

English

Ancient Greek Alphabet

← eta		→ iota
Θ θ Ancient Greek: θῆτα
Wikipedia article on theta

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek θῆτα (thêta).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈθiːtə/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈθeɪtə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (Hong Kong) IPA^(key): /ˈθeɪ.ta/, [fei̯˥ tʰaː˩]
• Rhymes: (UK) -iːtə, (US, Canada) -eɪtə

Noun

theta (plural thetas)

1. The eighth letter of the Modern Greek alphabet, ninth in Old Greek: Θ, θ.
2. (mathematics) The measure of an angle.
3. (aviation, by extension) Pitch angle; the angle between an aircraft's longitudinal axis and the horizontal plane.
4. (finance) The sensitivity of the value of a derivative with respect to time; the "time decay".
5. (biology) Designating a level of brain activity as measured by electroencephalography having a frequency of between four and seven cycles per second (associated with drowsiness in adults).
   • 2018, Meghan O'Gieblyn, "The Most Unread Book Ever Acclaimed", The Paris Review, 19 September:

     The reader is less likely to throw the book down in a fit of disgust than she is to be lulled into a theta state, a highway hypnosis induced by page after page of incantatory prose.

6. (phonology) The voiceless dental fricative represented by θ.

Hypernyms

• (measure of derivative price sensitivity): Greeks (includes list of coordinate terms)

Coordinate terms

(pitch angle of an aircraft):

• alpha
• beta
• gamma

Derived terms

• theta wave
• thetan

Descendants

• → Malay: teta

Translations

Greek letter

• Arabic: ثِيتَا‎ f (ṯītā)

  Hijazi Arabic: ثيتا‎ f (ṯīta)

• Aramaic: ܛܝܬܐ‎ (ṯita)
• Armenian: թետա (tʿeta)
• Catalan: theta (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 西塔 (zh) (xītǎ)

• Danish: theta (da) n
• Dutch: thèta (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: teto (eo)
• Finnish: theeta (fi)
• French: thêta (fr) m
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Theta (de) n
• Greek: θήτα (el) n (thíta)

  Ancient: θῆτα (thêta)

• Hebrew: טֵיתָא‎ f (téta)
• Hungarian: théta
• Icelandic: þeta
• Interlingua: theta
• Japanese: テータ (tēta), シータ (shīta)
• Korean: 테타 (teta)
• Malay: teta
• Maori: heitā
• Polish: theta (pl) f
• Portuguese: teta (pt) m
• Russian: те́та (ru) f (tɛ́ta), фи́та (ru) f (fíta) (modern Greek)
• Spanish: zeta (es) f, theta f, tita (es) f
• Swedish: theta (sv)
• Tagalog: teta
• Turkish: teta
• Ukrainian: те́та f (téta)

Catalan

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek θῆτα (thêta).

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛ.tə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛ.ta/

Noun

theta f (plural thetes)

1. theta; the Greek letter Θ (lowercase θ).

Further reading

• “theta” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “theta”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “theta” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

Czech

Alternative forms

• théta

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek θῆτα (thêta).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtɛta]

Noun

theta n

1. theta (Greek letter)

Italian

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek θῆτα (thêta).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈte.ta/
• Rhymes: -eta
• Syllabification: thé‧ta

Noun

theta m or f (invariable)

1. theta (Greek letter)

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative forms

• 𑀣𑁂𑀢 (Brahmi script)
• थेत (Devanagari script)
• থেত (Bengali script)
• ථෙත (Sinhalese script)
• ထေတ (Burmese script)
• เถต or เถตะ (Thai script)
• ᨳᩮᨲ (Tai Tham script)
• ເຖຕ or ເຖຕະ (Lao script)
• ថេត (Khmer script)
• 𑄗𑄬𑄖 (Chakma script)

Adjective

theta

1. reliable
2. trustworthy

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek θῆτα (thêta), from Phoenician 𐤈‬‎ (ṭ‬ /ṭēt/).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛ.ta/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛta
• Syllabification: the‧ta

Noun

theta f

1. theta (Greek letter Θ, θ)

Declension

Declension of theta

	singular	plural
nominative	theta	thety
genitive	thety	thet
dative	thecie	thetom
accusative	thetę	thety
instrumental	thetą	thetami
locative	thecie	thetach
vocative	theto	thety

Further reading

• theta in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• theta in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Noun

theta f (plural thetas)

1. Obsolete spelling of teta (used in Portugal until September 1911 and in Brazil until the 1940s).

Spanish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek θῆτα (thêta).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈteta/ [ˈt̪e.t̪a]
  • Rhymes: -eta
• IPA^(key): /ˈtita/ [ˈt̪i.t̪a]
  • Rhymes: -ita

Noun

theta f (plural thetas)

1. theta; the Greek letter Θ, θ

   Synonyms: zeta, tita