be·ta ( P ) Pronunciation Key (bt, b-)
n.
The second letter of the Greek alphabet. See table at alphabet.
The second item in a series or system of classification.
A mathematical measure of the sensitivity of rates of return on a portfolio or a given stock compared with rates of return on the market as a whole. A beta of 1.0 indicates that an asset closely follows the market; a beta greater than 1.0 indicates greater volatility than the market.
Physics.
A beta particle.
A beta ray.
Chemistry.
The second position from a designated carbon atom in an organic molecule at which an atom or a radical may be substituted.
An isomeric variation of a chemical compound. Used in combination: beta-estradiol.
Computer Science. A beta version.
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[Greek bta, of Phoenician origin. See byt in Semitic Roots.]
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Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
be·ta (bt, b-)
n.
Symbol The second letter of the Greek alphabet.
The second item in a series or system of classification.
A beta particle.
A beta ray.
adj.
Of or relating to the second position from a designated carbon atom in an organic molecule at which an atom or a radical may be substituted.
Of or relating to an isomeric variation of a chemical compound, such as a stereoisomer.
Source: The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Beta
A measure of a security's or portfolio's volatility, or systematic risk, in comparison to the market as a whole. Also known as "beta coefficient."
Investopedia Commentary
Beta is calculated using regression analysis, and you can think of beta as the tendency of a security's returns to respond to swings in the market. A beta of 1 indicates that the security's price will move with the market. A beta less than 1 means that the security will be less volatile than the market. A beta greater than 1 indicates that the security's price will be more volatile than the market. For example, if a stock's beta is 1.2 it's theoretically 20% more volatile than the market.
Many utilities stocks have a beta of less than 1. Conversely most high-tech Nasdaq-based stocks have a beta greater than 1, offering the possibility of a higher rate of return but also posing more risk.
Related Links
Beta: Know the Risk
Beta: Gauging Price Fluctuations
Understanding Volatility Measurements
Getting To Know The "Greeks"
See also: CAPM, CML, Systematic Risk, Volatility, Weighted Average Cost of Capital - WACC
Source: Investopedia.com. Copyright © 1999-2005 - All rights reserved. Owned and Operated by Investopedia Inc.
beta
A mathematical measure of the sensitivity of rates of return on a portfolio or a given stock compared with rates of return on the market as a whole. A high beta (greater than 1.0) indicates moderate or high price volatility. A beta of 1.5 forecasts a 1.5% change in the return on an asset for every 1% change in the return on the market. High-beta stocks are best to own in a strong bull market but are worst to own in a bear market. See also alpha, capital-asset pricing model, characteristic line, portfolio beta.
Source: Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Main Entry: β
Pronunciation: "bAt-&-"tü-"mI-krO-'gläb-y&-l&n, chiefly Brit "bE-t&-
Function: noun
: a beta globulin of low molecular weight that is present at a low level in plasma, is normally excreted in the urine, is homologous in structure to part of an antibody, comprises the light chain in certain histocompatibility antigens, and occurs at elevated levels in blood serum or urine in some pathological conditions (as tubulointerstitial disease)
Source: Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Main Entry: 1be·ta
Pronunciation: 'bAt-&, chiefly Brit 'bE-t&
Function: noun
1 : the second letter of the Greek alphabet —symbol B or β
2 : BETA PARTICLE
3 : BETA WAVE
Source: Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Main Entry: 2beta
Variant: or β-
Function: adjective
1 : of or relating to one of two or more closely related chemical substances
<β-yohimbine> —used somewhat arbitrarily to specify ordinal relationship or a particular physical form and especially one that is allotropic, isomeric, stereoisomeric, or sometimes polymeric (as in β-D-glucose)
2 : second in position in the structure of an organic molecule from a particular group or atom; also : occurring at or having a structure characterized by such a position
3 : producing a zone of decolorization when grown on blood media —used of some hemolytic streptococci or of the hemolysis they cause
Source: Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
beta
adj 1: second in order of importance; "the candidate, considered a beta male, was perceived to be unable to lead his party to victory" 2: preliminary or testing stage of a software or hardware product; "a beta version"; "beta software" n 1: the 2nd letter of the Greek alphabet 2: beets [syn: Beta, genus Beta]
Source: WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University
beta
Kristensen, Madsen , Moller-Pedersen &
Nygaard, 1983. Object-oriented language with block structure,
coroutines, concurrency, strong typing, part objects,
separate objects and classless objects. Central feature is a
single abstraction mechanism called "patterns", a
generalisation of classes, providing instantiation and
hierarchical inheritance for all objects including procedures
and processes.
Mjolner Informatics ApS, Aarhus, implementations for Mac, Sun,
HP, Apollo.
E-mail: .
Mailing list: .
["Object-Oriented Programming in the BETA Programming
Language", Ole Lehrmann et al, A-W June 1993, ISBN
0-201-62430-3].
[Jargon File]
(1995-10-31)
Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2005 Denis Howe
beta
/bay't*/, /be't*/ or (Commonwealth) /bee't*/
See beta conversion, beta test.
[Jargon File]
Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2005 Denis Howe
beta
/bay't*/, /be't*/ or (Commonwealth) /bee't*/ n. 1. Mostly
working, but still under test; usu. used with `in': `in beta'. In
the Real World, systems (hardware or software) software often go
through two stages of release testing: Alpha (in-house) and Beta
(out-house?). Beta releases are generally made to a group of lucky
(or unlucky) trusted customers. 2. Anything that is new and
experimental. "His girlfriend is in beta" means that he is still
testing for compatibility and reserving judgment. 3. Flaky;
dubious; suspect (since beta software is notoriously buggy).
Historical note: More formally, to beta-test is to test a
pre-release (potentially unreliable) version of a piece of software
by making it available to selected (or self-selected) customers and
users. This term derives from early 1960s terminology for product
cycle checkpoints, first used at IBM but later standard throughout
the industry. `Alpha Test' was the unit, module, or component test
phase; `Beta Test' was initial system test. These themselves came
from earlier A- and B-tests for hardware. The A-test was a
feasibility and manufacturability evaluation done before any
commitment to design and development. The B-test was a
demonstration that the engineering model functioned as specified.
The C-test (corresponding to today's beta) was the B-test performed
on early samples of the production design, and the D test was the C
test repeated after the model had been in production a while.