(initial capital letter)Astronomy. a star that is usually the third brightest of a constellation: The third brightest star in the Southern Cross is Gamma Crucis.
a unit of weight equal to one microgram.
Physics. a unit of magnetic field strength, equal to 10−5 gauss.
Photography. a measure of the degree of development of a negative or print.
Television. an analogous numerical indication of the degree of contrast between light and dark in the reproduction of an image in television.
Chiefly British. a grade showing that an individual student is in the third, or lowest, of three scholastic sections in a class.Compare alpha (def. 7), beta (def. 8).
The name is descriptive: they are extremely intense bursts of gamma rays, the highest energy form of light.
The Gamma-Ray Burst That Wasn’t|Matthew R. Francis|June 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Only gamma rays can do it, since all other forms of light are too low-energy.
We Can Create Matter from Light?!|Matthew R. Francis|May 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When the gamma rays enter the sleeve, they interact with that photon gas, annihilating into electron-positron pairs.
We Can Create Matter from Light?!|Matthew R. Francis|May 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He created his own agency, Gamma, in 1966, though he later left to join Magnum.
Photographer Raymond Depardon Captures the ‘Sweet Moments’|Sarah Moroz|November 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST
No word on Gamma Rays, Delta Squad, Epsilononicom, or Zetabyte.
Lady Gaga’s ‘ARTPOP’ Is Now Streaming, Michelle Pfeiffer Was in a Cult|Culture Team|November 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In Greek and Hebrew the third letter (gimel, gamma) had the power of the flat mute g, as in gun.
The English Language|Robert Gordon Latham
They have for the sake of convenience been called the alpha, beta, and gamma rays.
A Brief Account of Radio-activity|Francis Preston Venable
The "Gamma rays" are waves, like the X-rays, not material particles.
The Outline of Science, Vol. 1 (of 4)|J. Arthur Thomson
It was called radiation injury, the internal destruction of cell structure by gamma rays emitted by the bomb.
The Image and the Likeness|John Scott Campbell
Its sharp equivalent, however, the sound of k, was by no means wanting; and the Greek gamma was used to denote it.
A Handbook of the English Language|Robert Gordon Latham
British Dictionary definitions for gamma (1 of 2)
gamma
/ (ˈɡæmə) /
noun
the third letter in the Greek alphabet (Γ, γ), a consonant, transliterated as g. When double, it is transcribed and pronounced as ng
the third highest grade or mark, as in an examination
a unit of magnetic field strength equal to 10 –5 oersted. 1 gamma is equivalent to 0.795 775 × 10 –3 ampere per metre
photogtelevisionthe numerical value of the slope of the characteristic curve of a photographic emulsion or television camera; a measure of the contrast reproduced in a photographic or television image
(modifier)
involving or relating to photons of very high energya gamma detector
relating to one of two or more allotropes or crystal structures of a solidgamma iron
relating to one of two or more isomeric forms of a chemical compound, esp one in which a group is attached to the carbon atom next but one to the atom to which the principal group is attached
Word Origin for gamma
C14: from Greek; related to Hebrew gīmel third letter of the Hebrew alphabet (probably: camel)
British Dictionary definitions for gamma (2 of 2)
Gamma
/ (ˈɡæmə) /
noun
(foll by the genitive case of a specified constellation)the third brightest star in a constellationGamma Leonis