eta

See also: ETA and Appendix:Variations of "eta"

Languages (24)

English

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Basque • Basque-Icelandic Pidgin • Catalan • Esperanto • Faroese • Haitian Creole • Icelandic • Italian • Japanese • Laboya • Manggarai • Norwegian Nynorsk • Ojibwe • Old Norse • Ottawa • Pali • Polish • Portuguese • Romanian • Sotho • Spanish • Tswana • Ye'kwana

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English

Ancient Greek alphabet

← zeta		→ theta
Η η Ancient Greek: ἦτα
Wikipedia article on eta

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek ἦτα (êta).

Pronunciation

• (UK, Commonwealth) enPR: ēʹtə, IPA^(key): /ˈiːtə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) enPR: āʹtə, IPA^(key): /ˈeɪtə/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -iːtə, -eɪtə

Noun

eta (plural etas)

1. The seventh letter of the Modern Greek alphabet, the eighth in Old Greek.
   • 2022, R. F. Kuang, Babel, HarperVoyager, page 25:

     Greek was an exercise in making the familiar strange. Its alphabet mapped onto the Roman alphabet, but only partly so, and often letters did not sound how they looked — a rho (Ρ) was not a P, and an eta (Η) was not an H.

2. (particle physics) A kind of electrically neutral meson having zero spin and isospin.

Derived terms

• Dirichlet eta function
• eta conversion
• eta meson
• eta prime
• eta reduction

Related terms

• heta

Translations

Greek letter

• Arabic: إِتَا f (ʔitā)
• Asturian: eta (ast)
• Catalan: eta (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 艾塔 (zh) (àitǎ), 伊塔 (zh) (yītǎ)

• Czech: éta n
• Dutch: èta (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: eto (eo)
• Faroese: eta (fo) n
• Finnish: eeta (fi)
• French: êta (fr) m
• German: Eta (de) n
• Greek: ήτα (el) n (íta)

  Ancient Greek: ἦτα n (êta)

• Hungarian: éta (hu)
• Icelandic: eta (is) f or n
• Interlingua: eta
• Japanese: エータ (ja) (ēta), イタ (ita)
• Korean: 에타 (ko) (eta)
• Macedonian: е́та f (éta)
• Malay: eta (ms)
• Polish: eta (pl) f
• Portuguese: eta (pt) m
• Russian: э́та (ru) f (éta), и́та (ru) f (íta) (modern Greek)
• Spanish: eta (es) f
• Swedish: eta (sv) n
• Tagalog: eta

See also

• (Greek-script letter names) alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, xi, omicron, pi, rho, sigma, tau, upsilon, phi, chi, psi, omega

Etymology 2

From Japanese 穢多 (“full of filth”) (literal translation, now considered derogatory in Japan).

Pronunciation

• • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• enPR: āʹtə, IPA^(key): /ˈeɪtə/

Noun

eta (plural etas or eta)

1. A social outcast in Japan who is subjected to menial work, making up a class or caste of such people.

See also

• burakumin

Etymology 3

Noun

eta (plural etas)

1. Alternative form of ita (“kind of palm tree”).

Anagrams

• æt., -ate, eat, Tea, AET, aet, tea, a.e.t., aet., TEA, ate, Até, Atë

Basque

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eta/ [e.t̪a]
• Rhymes: -eta, -a
• Hyphenation: e‧ta

Etymology 1

Unknown, perhaps from Latin et (“and”). Unrelated to the suffix -eta.

Alternative forms

• ta (see usage notes)

Conjunction

eta

1. and

   katuak eta txakurrak ― cats and dogs

2. (mathematics) plus, and

   bat eta bat bi dira ― one plus one is two

3. upon, after

   Hotelera ailegatu eta igerilekura joan ziren. ― They went to the swimming pool just after arriving at the hotel.

4. (Southern) since, because

   Ezin dut kakaueterik jan, alergikoa naiz eta. ― I can't eat peanuts because I'm allergic

Usage notes

In the spoken language, the form ta is often used, specially (but not exclusively) after words ending in vowels. In formal, written language, eta is the only standard form.

Etymology 2

Noun

eta inan

1. eta (Greek letter)

Declension

Declension of eta (inan a-stem)

	indefinite	singular	plural	proximal plural
absolutive	eta	eta	etak	etok
ergative	etak	etak	etek	etok
dative	etari	etari	etei	etoi
genitive	etaren	etaren	eten	eton
comitative	etarekin	etarekin	etekin	etokin
causative	etarengatik	etarengatik	etengatik	etongatik
benefactive	etarentzat	etarentzat	etentzat	etontzat
instrumental	etaz	etaz	etez	etotaz
inessive	etatan	etan	etetan	etotan
locative	etatako	etako	etetako	etotako
allative	etatara	etara	etetara	etotara
terminative	etataraino	etaraino	etetaraino	etotaraino
directive	etatarantz	etarantz	etetarantz	etotarantz
destinative	etatarako	etarako	etetarako	etotarako
ablative	etatatik	etatik	etetatik	etotatik
partitive	etarik	—	—	—
prolative	etatzat	—	—	—

Further reading

• “eta”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “eta”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Basque-Icelandic Pidgin

Etymology

Inherited from Basque eta.

Conjunction

eta

1. and

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈe̞.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central) [ˈɛ.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈe.ta]

Noun

eta f (plural etes)

1. eta; the Greek letter Η (lowercase η)

Esperanto

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Italic *-tosder.?

Late Latin -ittus

Old French -et

Middle French -et

French -etbor.

▲

Late Latin -ittus

Italian -ettobor.

Esperanto -et-

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂

Proto-Italic *-ā

Latin -ader.

▲

Latin -a

Italian -ader.

▲

Latin -a

Old Spanish -a

Spanish -ader.

Esperanto -a

Esperanto eta

From -et- + -a.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeta/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eta
• Syllabification: e‧ta

Adjective

eta (accusative singular etan, plural etaj, accusative plural etajn)

1. tiny, little, minuscule, slight (see -et-)

   Antonyms: ega, grandega

   Se ĉi tio domo estas fakte domego, ĝi estas la plej eta domego, kiun mi jam vidis!

   If that house is in fact a mansion, it is the tiniest mansion I ever saw!

   Etaj manoj povas fari egajn malordojn.

   Little hands can make huge messes.

   Vere, la primo estas eta honoro, sed Mikaelo ege fieras pri ĝi.

   True, the award is a small honor, but Michael is immensely proud of it.

   Ŝia parto en la teatraĵo ne estas nur malgranda rolo, ĝi estas eta rolo sen sola vorto de dialogo.

   Her part in the play is not only a small role, it is a minuscule role without a single word of dialog.

   Mi havas nur etan kapdoloron.

   I only have a slight headache.

Usage notes

Usually smaller than malgranda (“small”), more synonymous to malgrandega (“tiny”) or tre malgranda (“very small”).

Derived terms

• etanima (“petty”)
• ete (“slightly”)

Further reading

• “eta”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “eta”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeːʰta/
• Rhymes: -eːʰta

Etymology 1

From Old Norse eta, from Proto-Germanic *etaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed-.

Verb

eta (third person singular past indicative át, third person plural past indicative ótu, supine etið)

1. to eat

Conjugation

Conjugation of eta (group v-72)

infinitive	eta
supine	etið
	present	past
first singular	eti	át
second singular	etur	átst
third singular	etur	át
plural	eta	ótu
participle (a26)1	etandi	etin
	imperative
singular	et!
plural	etið!

¹Only the past participle being declined.

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek ἦτα (êta).

Noun

eta n (genitive singular eta, plural etu)

1. eta (letter of the Greek alphabet)

Declension

n1	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	eta	etað	etu, etur	etuni
accusative	eta	etað	etu, etur	etuni
dative	eta	etanum	etum	etunum
genitive	eta	etans	etna	etnanna

Haitian Creole

Alternative forms

• leta

Etymology

From French état / État, from Old French estat, from Latin status.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eta/

Noun

eta

1. state (condition)

   eta matyè ― state of matter

2. state (polity)

Related terms

• Etazini
• Ozetazini

References

• Targète, Jean; Urciolo, Raphael (1993), Haitian Creole-English Dictionary‎^[1], Dunwoody Press, →ISBN, page 63

Icelandic

Alternative forms

• éta

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛːta]
• Rhymes: -ɛːta

Etymology 1

From Old Norse eta, from Proto-Germanic *etaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed-.

Verb

eta (strong verb, third-person singular past indicative át, third-person plural past indicative átu, supine etið)

1. to eat

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἦτα (êta).

Noun

eta f (genitive singular etu, nominative plural etur) or
eta n (genitive singular eta, nominative plural etu)

1. eta (letter of the Greek alphabet)

Declension

Declension of eta (feminine)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	eta	etan	etur	eturnar
accusative	etu	etuna	etur	eturnar
dative	etu	etunni	etum	etunum
genitive	etu	etunnar	eta	etanna

Declension of eta (neuter)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	eta	etað	etu	etun
accusative	eta	etað	etu	etun
dative	eta	etanu	etum	etunum
genitive	eta	etans	eta	etanna

Italian

Etymology

From Latin ēta, from Ancient Greek ἦτα (êta), later form of ἧτα (hêta), from Phoenician 𐤇 (ḥ /⁠ḥēt⁠/), whence also heth.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.ta/
• Rhymes: -ɛta
• Hyphenation: è‧ta

Noun

eta m or f (invariable)

1. eta (Greek letter)

Further reading

• “eta”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Anagrams

• -ate

Japanese

Romanization

eta

1. Rōmaji transcription of えた

Laboya

Verb

eta

1. to see

References

• Rina, A. Dj.; Kabba, John Lado B. (2011), “eta”, in Kamus Bahasa Lamboya, Kabupaten Sumba Bakat [Dictionary of Lamboya Language, West Sumba Regency], Waikabubak: Dinas Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata, Kabupaten Sumba Bakat, page 17

Manggarai

Etymology

From *leta, akin to Tetum leten.

Adverb

eta

1. above

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• ete (e-infinitive)
• åtå (dialectal)

Etymology

From Old Norse eta, from Proto-Germanic *etaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed-. Akin to English eat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²eːtɑ/

Verb

eta (present tense et, past tense åt, past participle ete, passive infinitive etast, present participle etande, imperative et)

1. to eat

   Dei åt for mykje.

   They ate too much.

Conjugation

Conjugation of eta (strong)

infinitive	eta, ete
present participle	etande
past participle	eten
supine	ete
	present	past
indicative singular	et, eter2	åt
indicative plural1	eta	åto
subjunctive	ete	―
imperative singular	et
imperative plural1	ete

¹ Rare today.
² Unofficial today.

Derived terms

• etande

Related terms

• -æt

References

• “eta” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Ojibwe

Adverb

eta

1. only, just

   Bezhig eta ogii-ni-maajiinaan ini akikoon awe naadaabowed.

   The person going after water only took one pail.

Related terms

• giineta
• giinetawaa
• giinetawind
• niineta
• niinetawind
• wiineta
• wiinetawaa

References

• Nora Livesay and John D. Nichols, editors (2012-2021), “eta”, in Ojibwe People's Dictionary‎^[2], University of Minnesota

Old Norse

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *etǭ.

Alternative forms

• jata

Noun

eta f (genitive etu)

1. crib, manger
2. (plural only) cancer

Declension

Declension of eta (weak ōn-stem)

feminine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	eta	etan	etur	eturnar
accusative	etu	etuna	etur	eturnar
dative	etu	etunni	etum	etunum
genitive	etu	etunnar	etna	etnanna

Descendants

• Norwegian Nynorsk: ete

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *etaną, akin to Old English etan ( > English eat), Old Saxon etan, Old High German ezzan (> German essen), Gothic 𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (itan). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed-. Non-Germanic cognates include Latin edō, Ancient Greek ἔδω (édō), Lithuanian ėsti, Latvian ēst, Old Church Slavonic ꙗсти (jasti) (whence Bulgarian ям (jam)), Russian е́сть (jéstʹ), Sanskrit अत्ति (átti), Old Armenian ուտեմ (utem), Hittite 𒂊𒀉𒈪 (e-id-mi).

Verb

eta (singular past indicative át, plural past indicative átu, past participle etinn)

2.  to eat

Conjugation

Conjugation of eta — active (strong class 5)

infinitive	eta
present participle	etandi
past participle	etinn
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	et	át		eta	æta
2nd person singular	etr	ázt		etir	ætir
3rd person singular	etr	át		eti	æti
1st person plural	etum	átum		etim	ætim
2nd person plural	etið	átuð		etið	ætið
3rd person plural	eta	átu		eti	æti
imperative	present
2nd person singular	et
1st person plural	etum
2nd person plural	etið

Conjugation of eta — mediopassive (strong class 5)

infinitive	etask
present participle	etandisk
past participle	etizk
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	etumk	átumk		etumk	ætumk
2nd person singular	ezk	ázk		etisk	ætisk
3rd person singular	ezk	ázk		etisk	ætisk
1st person plural	etumsk	átumsk		etimsk	ætimsk
2nd person plural	etizk	átuzk		etizk	ætizk
3rd person plural	etask	átusk		etisk	ætisk
imperative	present
2nd person singular	ezk
1st person plural	etumsk
2nd person plural	etizk

Descendants

• Icelandic: eta, éta
• Faroese: eta
• Norwegian Nynorsk: eta, ete; (dialectal) ita, åtå, øtå
• Elfdalian: jätå
• Old Swedish: æta
  • Swedish: äta
• Old Danish: ætæ
  • Danish: æde
    • Norwegian Bokmål: ete
  • Scanian: æda
• Gutnish: äte, jite, jeta

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), “eta”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

Ottawa

Adverb

eta

1. only, just

References

Jerry Randolph Valentine (2001), Nishnaabemwin Reference Grammar, University of Toronto, page 145

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• 𑀏𑀢 (Brahmi script)
• एत (Devanagari script)
• এত (Bengali script)
• එත (Sinhalese script)
• ဧတ or ဨတ or ဢေတ (Burmese script)
• เอต or เอตะ (Thai script)
• ᩑᨲ (Tai Tham script)
• ເອຕ or ເອຕະ (Lao script)
• ឯត (Khmer script)
• 𑄃𑄬𑄖 (Chakma script)

Alternative scripts

• esa (Latin script)
• 𑀏𑀲 (Brahmi script)
• एस (Devanagari script)
• এস (Bengali script)
• එස (Sinhalese script)
• ဧသ or ဨသ or ဢေသ (Burmese script)
• เอส or เอสะ (Thai script)
• ᩑᩈ (Tai Tham script)
• ເອສ or ເອສະ (Lao script)
• ឯស (Khmer script)
• 𑄃𑄬𑄥 (Chakma script)

Etymology

From Sanskrit एतद् (etad).

Adjective

eta

1. this
   • c. 50 BC, The Buddha, Dhammapada(pāḷi), Yamakavagga, page 26; republished in The Eighteenth Book in the Suttanta-Pitaka: Khuddaka-Nikāya‎^[3], Colombo, 2009:

     5. න හි වෙරෙන වෙරාචී සම‍්මන‍්තීධ කුදාචනං 5
     අඞවරෙන ච සම‍්මන‍්ති එස ධම‍්මො සනන‍්තනො.

     5. Na hi verena verāni sammantīdha kudācanaṃ 5
     Averena ca sammanti esa dhammo sanantano.

     5. For in this world hatreds are not ever settled by hatred,
     but are settled by love. This is an eternal truth.

     (literally, “5. For in this world hatreds are not ever settled by hatred,
     but are settled by love. This truth is eternal.”)

     (Wiktionary translation adapted from translation of the Pali by Ajahn Sujato.)

Usage notes

The case form etad is only used before vowels and as the prefixed combining form.

Declension

Declension table of "eta" (masculine)

Case / Number	Singular	Plural
Nominative (first)	eso or esa	ete
Accusative (second)	etaṃ	ete
Instrumental (third)	etena	etehi or etebhi
Dative (fourth)	etassa	etesaṃ or etesānaṃ
Ablative (fifth)	etasmā or etamhā	etehi or etebhi
Genitive (sixth)	etassa	etesaṃ or etesānaṃ
Locative (seventh)	etasmiṃ or etamhi	etesu

Declension table of "etā" (feminine)

Case / Number	Singular	Plural
Nominative (first)	esā	etā
Accusative (second)	etaṃ	etā
Instrumental (third)	etāya	etāhi or etābhi
Dative (fourth)	etāya or etassā or etissā or etissāya	etāsaṃ or etāsānaṃ
Ablative (fifth)	etāya	etāhi or etābhi
Genitive (sixth)	etāya or etassā or etissā or etissāya	etāsaṃ or etāsānaṃ
Locative (seventh)	etāya or etāyaṃ or etissaṃ	etāsu

Declension table of "eta" (neuter)

Case / Number	Singular	Plural
Nominative (first)	etaṃ or etad	etāni
Accusative (second)	etaṃ or etad	etāni
Instrumental (third)	etena	etehi or etebhi
Dative (fourth)	etassa	etesaṃ or etesānaṃ
Ablative (fifth)	etasmā or etamhā	etehi or etebhi
Genitive (sixth)	etassa	etesaṃ or etesānaṃ
Locative (seventh)	etasmiṃ or etamhi	etesu

Derived terms

• (pronoun) etā

Pronoun

eta m

1. this one

Declension

Declension table of "eta" (masculine)

Case / Number	Singular	Plural
Nominative (first)	eso or esa	ete
Accusative (second)	etaṃ	ete
Instrumental (third)	etena	etehi or etebhi
Dative (fourth)	etassa	etesaṃ or etesānaṃ
Ablative (fifth)	etasmā or etamhā	etehi or etebhi
Genitive (sixth)	etassa	etesaṃ or etesānaṃ
Locative (seventh)	etasmiṃ or etamhi	etesu

Pronoun

eta n

1. this one

Usage notes

The case form etad is only used before vowels and as the prefixed combining form.

Declension

Declension table of "eta" (neuter)

Case / Number	Singular	Plural
Nominative (first)	etaṃ or etad	etāni
Accusative (second)	etaṃ or etad	etāni
Instrumental (third)	etena	etehi or etebhi
Dative (fourth)	etassa	etesaṃ or etesānaṃ
Ablative (fifth)	etasmā or etamhā	etehi or etebhi
Genitive (sixth)	etassa	etesaṃ or etesānaṃ
Locative (seventh)	etasmiṃ or etamhi	etesu

References

Pali Text Society (1921–1925), “etad”, in Pali-English Dictionary‎, London: Chipstead

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἦτα (êta), from Phoenician 𐤇 (ḥ‬ /⁠ḥēt⁠/).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.ta/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛta
• Syllabification: e‧ta

Noun

eta f

1. eta (Greek letter Η, η)

Declension

Declension of eta

	singular	plural
nominative	eta	ety
genitive	ety	et
dative	ecie	etom
accusative	etę	ety
instrumental	etą	etami
locative	ecie	etach
vocative	eto	ety

Further reading

• “eta”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• eita (Brazil)
• eitcha (Brazil, regional)

Etymology

Possibly from Old Tupi eti (expressing astonishment or mockery).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈe.tɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈe.tɐ/

• Rhymes: -etɐ
• Hyphenation: e‧ta

Interjection

eta

1. expresses surprise

Further reading

• “eta”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “eta”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin aetas.

Noun

eta f (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) age

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Please edit the entry and supply |def= and |pl= parameters to the {{ro-noun-f}} template.

References

• eta in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

Sotho

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-gèndia, causative form of Proto-Bantu *-gènda.

Verb

eta

1. to walk
2. to go

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeta/ [ˈe.t̪a]
• Rhymes: -eta
• Syllabification: e‧ta

Noun

eta f (plural etas)

1. eta; the Greek letter Η, η

Further reading

• “eta”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Tswana

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-gènda.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.ta/

Verb

eta

1. to go
2. to visit

Ye'kwana

Variant orthographies

ALIV	eta
Brazilian standard	eta
New Tribes	eta

Etymology

From Proto-Cariban *ôta (“to hear”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [eta]

Verb

eta

1. (transitive) to hear, to listen

Derived terms

• ööta

References

• Cáceres, Natalia (2011), “eta”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana‎^[5], Lyon
• Hall, Katherine Lee (1988), The morphosyntax of discourse in De'kwana Carib, volumes I and II, Saint Louis, Missouri: PhD Thesis, Washington University, pages 216, 219, 315, 389: “[eta:dï] 'to hear' […] eta:dü 'to hear' […] -eta- 'hear' […] eta:dü - to hear”