1. First in order of importance
   "the alpha male in the group of chimpanzees"; "the alpha star in a constellation is the brightest or main star"
    
2. Early testing stage of a software or hardware product
   "alpha version"

1. The 1st letter of the Greek alphabet
   "Alpha is often used to denote the first or most important item in a series"
    
2. The beginning of a series or sequence
   "the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end"

Derived forms: alphas

See also: explorative, exploratory, important, of import

Type of: alphabetic character, letter, letter of the alphabet, start

Part of: Greek alphabet

Encyclopedia: Alpha, Queensland