Where does “beta” come from?
beta (Romanian) comes from French bêta, from French bête, from Middle French beste, from Old French beste, from Latin bēstia — a beast.
beta (Romanian): beta Greek letter
Ancestry of “beta”, step by step
beta traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French bêta
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | bêta | beta; stupid, idiotic |
| 2 | French | bête | beast, animal; Not very bright and lacking in... |
| 3 | Middle French | beste | beast, animal |
| 4 | Old French | beste | beast, animal |
| 5 | Latin | bēstia | a beast |
via Hungarian béta
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Hungarian | béta | beta |
| 2 | Ancient Greek | βῆτα | beta, the name for the second letter Β, β of the... |
| 3 | Phoenician | 𐤁𐤕 | house |
| 4 | Proto-Semitic | bayt- | house |