Alfa in Scrabble and Meaning

• Finder
• Unscrambler
• Dictionary

Valid words made from Alfa

Results

4-letter words (1 found)

3-letter words (4 found)

2-letter words (4 found)

You can make 9 words from alfa according to the Scrabble US and Canada dictionary.

Definitions and meaning of alfa

alfa

Translingual

Noun

alfa

1. alternative letter-case form of Alfa of the ICAO/NATO radiotelephony alphabet.

English

Etymology 1

Noun

alfa

2. (international standards) alternative letter-case form of Alfa from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet.
4. (international standards) Alternative spelling of alpha used in the ruleset of the international nonproprietary name system, where various digraphs are usually deprecated (except for grandfathered exceptions) because their replacement is translingually preferable (thus, for example, f, not ph; t, not th; and e, not ae).

Etymology 2

From Fula alfaa. Compare Yoruba àlùfáà.

Noun

alfa (plural alfas)

1. (Islam) A West African cleric or religious teacher.

Asturian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), of Semitic origin.

Noun

alfa f (plural alfes)

1. alpha (Greek letter)

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), of Semitic origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈal.fə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈal.fa]

Noun

alfa f (plural alfes)

1. alpha (Greek letter)

Further reading

• “alfa”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), of Semitic origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈalfa]

Noun

alfa n or f

1. alpha

Declension

when feminine:

Indeclinable when neuter.

Dutch

Alternative forms

• alpha (superseded)

Etymology

Ultimately from Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), of Semitic origin. Doublet of alef.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑl.faː/
• Hyphenation: al‧fa

Noun

alfa f (plural alfa's, diminutive alfaatje n)

1. the letter alpha (first letter of the Greek alphabet)
2. Historically used in educational contexts to denote a humanistic orientation.

   Antonym: bèta

3. someone who is educated in the humanities or otherwise prefers such subjects

   Antonym: bèta

4. (ethology) a dominant animal

Derived terms

Further reading

• alfa on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

Finnish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), of Semitic origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑlf(ː)ɑ/, [ˈɑ̝lf(ː)ɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -ɑlfɑ
• Syllabification^(key): al‧fa
• Hyphenation^(key): al‧fa

Noun

alfa

1. alpha; the Greek letter Α, α
2. alpha (person, especially a male, who is dominant, successful and attractive)

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• “alfa”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

French

Etymology

From Arabic حَلْفَاء (ḥalfāʔ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /al.fa/
• Homophone: alpha

Noun

alfa m (plural alfas)

1. esparto

Related terms

• alfatier

Further reading

• “alfa”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈalfɐ]

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), of Semitic origin.

Noun

alfa m (plural alfas)

1. alpha (Greek letter)

Etymology 2

Unknown origin. Possibly related to Latin ārefacere through Galician alfar. Or Proto-Indo-European *h₂elbʰós.

Noun

alfa f (plural alfas)

1. hot air expelled from an oven
2. excessively hot air or wind
3. blaze of the sun
4. flame

   Synonyms: chama, lapa, laparada

Derived terms

• alfada

Etymology 3

Verb

alfa

1. inflection of alfar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

References

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “alfa”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “alfa”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “alfa”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Hungarian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), of Semitic origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɒlfɒ]
• Hyphenation: al‧fa
• Rhymes: -fɒ

Noun

alfa (plural alfák)

1. alpha

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• alfa in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• alfa in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

Icelandic

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), of Semitic origin.

Noun

alfa f (genitive singular ölfu, nominative plural ölfur) or
alfa n (genitive singular alfa, nominative plural ölfu)

1. alpha (Greek letter)

Declension

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), of Semitic origin. Doublet of alif.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (standard) /ˈal.fa/, (dialectal) /ˈal.pa/
• Rhymes: -fa, -a
• Hyphenation: al‧fa

Noun

alfa (plural alfa-alfa)

1. alpha:
   1. the name of the first letter of the Greek alphabet (Α, α), followed by beta; in the Latin alphabet it is the predecessor to A
   2. first, see alpha and omega

      Synonyms: pertama, permulaan

   3. (astronomy) Alpha, the brightest star in a constellation according to the Bayer designation
   4. (electronics) common-base current gain of a transistor in electronics
   5. (statistics) the significance level of a statistical test; the alpha level

Further reading

• “alfa” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Irish

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), of Semitic origin.

Noun

alfa m (genitive singular alfa)

1. alpha (Greek letter)

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Arabic حَلْفَا (ḥalfā).

Noun

alfa m (genitive singular alfa)

1. esparto, halfa

Declension

Mutation

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “alfa”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “alfa”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “alfa”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2025

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈal.fa/
• Rhymes: -alfa
• Hyphenation: àl‧fa

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), of Semitic origin.

Noun

alfa m or f (invariable)

1. alpha, specifically:
   1. the name of the Greek-script letter Α/α
   2. The name of the Latin-script letter Ɑ/ɑ.; Latin alpha

Related terms

Etymology 2

Wikispecies ^it Borrowed from Arabic حَلْفَا (ḥalfā).

Noun

alfa f (plural alfe)

1. a grass, Stipa tenacissima; esparto, halfa

See also

• sparto

References

Anagrams

• fala

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha) (sense 1), and Arabic حَلْفَا (ḥalfā) (sense 2).

Noun

alfa m (definite singular alfaen, indefinite plural alfaer, definite plural alfaene)

1. alpha, first letter of the Greek alphabet.
2. esparto grass, Stipa tenacissima

Synonyms

• (sense 2) alfagress

Derived terms

• alfastråling

References

• “alfa” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “alfa_1” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “alfa_2” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha) (sense 1), and Arabic حَلْفَا (ḥalfā) (sense 2).

Noun

alfa m (definite singular alfaen, indefinite plural alfaer or alfaar, definite plural alfaene or alfaane)

1. alpha, first letter of the Greek alphabet.
2. esparto grass, Stipa tenacissima

Synonyms

• (sense 2) alfagras

Derived terms

• alfastråling

References

• “alfa” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Norse

Noun

alfa

1. accusative/genitive plural of alfr

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), from Phoenician 𐤀 (ʾ /⁠ʾālep⁠/). First attested in 1533.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈal.fa/
• Rhymes: -alfa
• Syllabification: al‧fa

Noun

alfa f (indeclinable)

1. alpha (Greek letter Α, α)

   umieć alfę z betą (Middle Polish) ― to be educated

Declension

Or indeclinable.

Derived terms

References

Further reading

• alfa in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• alfa in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Barbara Rykiel-Kempf (16.06.2020) “ALFA”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century]
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “alfa”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “alfa”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “alfa”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 24

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• alpha (pre-standardization spelling)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin alpha, from Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), of Semitic origin. Doublet of alef.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -alfɐ, (Brazil) -awfɐ
• Hyphenation: al‧fa

Noun

alfa m (plural alfas)

1. alpha (the name of the first letter of the Greek alphabet (Α,  α), followed by beta)
2. (poetic) the beginning; the origin of something

   Synonyms: princípio, origem, começo

   Antonyms: ómega, ômega

Further reading

• “alfa”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “alfa”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “alfa”, in Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisboa: Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, 2001–2025
• “alfa”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025
• “alfa”, in iDicionário Aulete (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha).

Noun

alfa m (uncountable)

1. alpha

Declension

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), of Semitic origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /âlfa/
• Hyphenation: al‧fa

Noun

ȁlfa f (Cyrillic spelling а̏лфа)

1. alpha; the Greek letter Α, α

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), of Semitic origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈalfa/ [ˈal.fa]
• Rhymes: -alfa
• Syllabification: al‧fa

Noun

alfa f (plural alfas)

1. alpha; the Greek letter Α, α

Usage notes

Alfa always takes the usual feminine articles la and una (la alfa, una alfa). This makes it an exception to the rule according to which feminine nouns beginning with stressed /ˈa/ frequently take the articles el and un otherwise reserved for masculine nouns (e.g., el alma, un alma).

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “alfa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), of Semitic origin.

Noun

alfa n

1. alpha; the Greek letter Α, α

Anagrams

• fala

Source: wiktionary.org