alpha and omega

• Alpha and Omega

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).

alpha and omega (usually uncountable, plural alphas and omegas)

1. 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, […]

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• Thesaurus:completely

alpha and omega

1. An exclamation denoting surprise.
   • 1994, Sharon Creech, Walk Two Moons, page 14:

     "Alpha and Omega, will you look at that!"