alpha and omega
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From alpha and omega, first and final letters of the Greek Alphabet, from Revelation 1:8, see quotations. Translation of Ancient Greek τὸ ἄλφα καὶ τὸ ὦ (tò álpha kaì tò ô).
Noun
alpha and omega (usually uncountable, plural alphas and omegas)
- The first and last; the beginning and end.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 1:8:
- I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
- 1831, John Herschel, A Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy:
- the alpha and omega of science
- 1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume III, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC:
- That I merited all I endured, I acknowledged—that I could scarcely endure more, I pleaded; and the alpha and omega of my heart’s wishes broke involuntarily from my lips in the words—‘Jane! Jane! Jane!’
- 1850 May 1, Thomas Carlyle, “No. V. Stump-Orator.”, in Latter-Day Pamphlets, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 155–156:
- We spoke once of vital lungs for Society: and in fact this question always rises as the alpha and omega of social questions, […]
Translations
the first and the last
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Translations to be checked
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See also
Interjection
- An exclamation denoting surprise.
- 1994, Sharon Creech, Walk Two Moons, page 14:
- "Alpha and Omega, will you look at that!"
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