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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

About one-thirtieth of the times that a pi meson hit a deuterium nucleus, out came the eta meson, which decays into three pions.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

From National Geographic

"I have heard you say yourself, Colonel Zanzi, that in the army there is neither eta nor samurai,—only sons of the emperor."

From The Way of the Gods by Long, John Luther

“Home tonight, hopefully,” the 25-year-old driver said about Dakar, an E.T.A. that would have been unthinkable a few years ago.

From New York Times ● Nov. 8, 2022

I really enjoyed “The Nutcracker”! I know that it is based on a story by E.T.A.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 20, 2019

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

Written by Ashleigh Powell, Tom McCarthy; based on a story by E.T.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2018

There sat the eccentric Louis Boehner,1 who long ago had served as the model for E.T.A.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 71, September, 1863 by Various

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

An ETA is a digital permission to travel to the UK.

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