zeta

American  

[zey-tuh, zee-] / ˈzeɪ tə, ˈzi- /

noun

1. the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet (Z, ζ).

2. the consonant sound represented by this letter.

---

ZETA ¹ British  

/ ˈziːtə /

noun

1. a torus-shaped apparatus used for research in the 1950s and early 1960s on controlled thermonuclear reactions and plasma physics

---

Zeta ² British  

/ ˈziːtə /

noun

1. (foll by the genitive case of a specified constellation) the sixth brightest star in a constellation

   Zeta Tauri

---

zeta ³ British  

/ ˈziːtə /

noun

1. the sixth letter in the Greek alphabet (Ζ, ζ), a consonant, transliterated as z

---

Usage

What else does zeta mean? Zeta is a letter of the Greek alphabet. As a letter, zeta is popularly encountered in the names of fraternities and sororities. Zeta is also popularly associated with a famous alien abduction story.In men’s rights lingo, zeta refers to a man who refuses to have their masculinity defined by or in terms of women.What are some other words related to zeta?alphaomegamanosphereincel

Etymology

Origin of zeta

First recorded in 1820–30, zeta is from the Greek word zêta

Example Sentences

Among these is the famous zeta ring, a very faint and dusty celestial object first discovered by the Voyager 2 satellite in 1986.

From Salon • Dec. 19, 2023

“Spring training being closed in March would be worse for us than another covid outbreak, like if they announced the zeta variant was coming. It would be that bad.”

From Washington Post • Feb. 23, 2022

However, Riemann’s formula only holds if one assumes that the real parts of these zeta function zeroes are all equal to one-half.

From Science Magazine • Sep. 24, 2018

As a physicist, I was aware that the zeros of the zeta function describe the distribution of the prime numbers.

From Nature • Jul. 17, 2018

The Greek letters beta and zeta are usually pronounced /bee't*/ and /zee't*/; meta may also be pronounced /mee't*/.

From The Jargon File, Version 4.2.2, 20 Aug 2000 by Steele, Guy L.