Ω, ὦ, τό, twenty-fourth and last letter of the Ionic alphabet, ἀπὸ ἄλφα ἕως.ω. [
Refs 9th c.AD+]; thence used as a symbol of
the end, the last, ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ ἄλφα καὶ τὸ ὦ (not τὸ ὦ μέγα) [
NT]:—as a numeral ώ = 800, but ωνυμ = 800, 000. The epichoric _Attic dialect_ and other alphabets of the Inscrr. had used o in differently to represent the sounds of the later ο and ω: Ω is a differentiated form of ο, and, though usually = ω, was used in the Ionic islands of Paros, Thasos, and Siphnos with the value ο, while O or O represented the sound ω. The name of the letter was τὸ ὦ (
perispomenon accusative to [
Refs 5th c.BC+]: after the loss of the distinction between long and short vowels, ο and ω had the same pronunciation; they begin to be confused in Papyri of [
Refs 3rd c.BC+](οἰκωνόμου [
Refs 3rd c.BC+], but the name ω μέγα appears first in later Greek, [
Refs 9th c.AD+]; ἐν τῷ ω ¯ μεγάλῳ under
omega (in a lexicon), [
Refs 2nd c.AD+]