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• eta
  eta

  noun

  the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet (H, η).
• E.T.A.
  E.T.A.

  abbreviation

  estimated time of arrival.
• ETA
  ETA

  abbreviation

  estimated time of arrival

eta

¹ American  

[ey-tuh, ee-tuh] / ˈeɪ tə, ˈi tə /

noun

1. the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet (H, η).

2. the vowel sound represented by this letter.

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E.T.A. ² American  

Or ETA

abbreviation

1. estimated time of arrival.

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ETA ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. estimated time of arrival

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ETA ² British  

/ ˈɛtə /

acronym

1. Euzkadi ta Askatsuna: an organization of militant Basque nationalists attempting to gain independence for the Basques, esp those ruled by Spain, until a ceasefire in 1998, by means of guerrilla warfare

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eta ³ British  

/ ˈiːtə /

noun

1. the seventh letter in the Greek alphabet (Η, η), a long vowel sound, transliterated as e or ē

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eta ⁴ British  

/ ˈeɪtə /

noun

1. (in Japan, formerly) a member of a class of outcasts who did menial and dirty tasks

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Etymology

Origin of eta

< Greek êta; compare Hebrew ḥeth heth

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

eta E.T.A. ETA

But other variants – eta, theta, iota – were quickly steamrolled and are now irrelevant.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 14, 2021

The importance of those men dressed in white is clearly shown by the symbol that looks like an H, the Greek letter eta.

From National Geographic

Among 44 men who were intensely concerned with their athletic ability, Little reports in the journal A eta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 32 suffered from neuroses that had been set off by physical ailments.

From Time Magazine Archive

Status Symbol The H on the men’s clothing is the Greek letter eta.

From National Geographic

In gold his family revelled and rolled, Himself and his wife and his sons so bold, And his daughters who sang to their harps of gold O bella eta dell' oro.

From Magnum Bonum by Yonge, Charlotte Mary

“The Nutcracker” is, basically, a mosaic of musical, historical and cultural influences, right down to its literary inspiration: a German short story by E.T.A.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 25, 2022

The ballet was based on a story called ‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’ by the German writer E.T.A.

From Fox News ● Dec. 18, 2018

She confirmed that in subsequent acts it veers away from naturalism, inspired by magical realist writers like Bruno Schulz and E.T.A.

From New York Times ● Jul. 15, 2015

One appreciation described his childhood as "some hybrid tale of E.T.A. Hoffmann upon Mark Twain," and his stories of camp life and voodoo held men and women spellbound while he was alive.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2015

At about the same time he read Gulliver's Travels, the tales of noble robbers written by Goethe's brother-in-law, Vulpius, the wildly fantastic stories of E.T.A.

From The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 06 Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English. in Twenty Volumes by Francke, Kuno

He said his ETA was 5 p.m., and it ended up being 5:25 p.m., typical 405 Freeway.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

At some point, you realize the ETA is 30 minutes, and the remaining distance is three miles.

From Barron's ● May 3, 2026

Connecting passengers only need an ETA if they are connecting to a flight within the U.K.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026

Getting an ETA costs £16, but the government has said it plans to increase the fee to £20 in the future.

From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2026

“Yeah, man. Current ETA for basketball game on Sunday is fourteen hundred hours. How copy?”

From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser