alphabet

The alphabet is the set of symbols known as letters that are used to form words. At its most basic, the English alphabet is composed of five vowels (letters representing speech sounds formed exclusively with an open airway) and 21 consonants (letters representing speech sounds formed with the tongue, teeth, and lips), for a total of 26 letters. Together, vowels and consonants form syllables in speech.

Every vowel and consonant has at least one speech sound associated with it, but most letters can have several sounds, with their pronunciation depending on where they appear in a word, what letter(s) appear around them, and, in some cases, the etymology (historical origin) of the word.

alphabet

al·pha·bet

(ăl′fə-bĕt′, -bĭt)

1. The letters of a language, arranged in the order fixed by custom.

2. A system of characters or symbols representing sounds or things.

3. A set of basic parts or elements: "genetic markers ... that contain repeated sequences of the DNA alphabet" (Sandra Blakeslee).

[Middle English alphabete, from Latin alphabētum, from Greek alphabētos : alpha, alpha; see alpha + bēta, beta; see beta.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

alphabet

(ˈælfəˌbɛt)

1. a set of letters or other signs used in a writing system, usually arranged in a fixed order, each letter or sign being used to represent one or sometimes more than one phoneme in the language being transcribed

2. any set of symbols or characters, esp one representing sounds of speech

3. basic principles or rudiments, as of a subject

[C15: from Late Latin alphabētum, from Greek alphabētos, from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet; see alpha, beta]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

al•pha•bet

art at aloof

(ˈæl fəˌbɛt, -bɪt)

n.

1. the letters of a language in their customary order.

2. any system of letters or symbols with which a language is written: the Greek alphabet.

3. any such system for representing the sounds of a language or languages: a phonetic alphabet.

4. basic facts; rudiments; ABC's: the alphabet of genetics.

[1375–1425; late Middle English alphabete < Late Latin alphabētum, alter. of Greek alphábētos. See alpha, beta]

Alphabet

alphabet

Normally a set of graphic symbols which, either singly or in combinations, represents the sounds of a language. Alphabetic writing appears to have begun around 1700 BC. Its inventors are thought to have been the Egyptians, Phoenicians, or Hittites. The word comes from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	alphabet - a character set that includes letters and is used to write a language script - a particular orthography or writing system Armenian alphabet, Armenian - a writing system having an alphabet of 38 letters in which the Armenian language is written character set - an ordered list of characters that are used together in writing or printing Latin alphabet, Roman alphabet - the alphabet evolved by the ancient Romans which serves for writing most of the languages of western Europe Hebraic alphabet, Hebrew alphabet, Hebrew script - a Semitic alphabet used since the 5th century BC for writing the Hebrew language (and later for writing Yiddish and Ladino) Greek alphabet - the alphabet used by ancient Greeks Cyrillic, Cyrillic alphabet - an alphabet derived from the Greek alphabet and used for writing Slavic languages (Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Ukrainian, and some other Slavic languages) Arabic alphabet - the alphabet of 28 characters derived from Aramaic and used for writing Arabic languages (and borrowed for writing Urdu) phonetic alphabet, sound alphabet - an alphabet of characters intended to represent specific sounds of speech finger alphabet, manual alphabet - an alphabet used by the deaf; letters are represented by finger positions alphabetic character, letter of the alphabet, letter - the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech; "his grandmother taught him his letters"
	2.	alphabet - the elementary stages of any subject (usually plural); "he mastered only the rudiments of geometry" ABC, ABCs, ABC's, first principle, first rudiment, rudiment basic principle, fundamental principle, fundamentals, basics, bedrock - principles from which other truths can be derived; "first you must learn the fundamentals"; "let's get down to basics" plural, plural form - the form of a word that is used to denote more than one

alphabet

noun letters, script, writing system, syllabary By the age of two-and-a-half, he knew the alphabet.

Alphabets

Related vocabulary Cyrillic, hiragana, kana, kanji, katakana, Kufic or Cufic, Latin, lexigraphy, Linear A, Linear B, logogram or logograph, Nagari, Roman

Arabic letters alif, bā, tā, thā, jīm, ḥā, khā, dāl, dhāl, rā, zā, sīn, shīn, ṣād, ḍād, ṭā, ẓā, `ain, ghain, fā, qāf, kāf, lām, mīm, nūn, hā, wāw, yā

Greek letters alpha, beta, chi, delta, epsilon, eta, gamma, iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, omega, omicron, phi, pi, psi, rho, sigma, tau, theta, upsilon, xi, zeta

Hebrew letters aleph, ayin or ain, beth, daleth or daled, gimel, he, heth or cheth, kaph, koph or qoph, lamed or lamedh, mem, nun, pe, resh, sadhe, sade, or tsade, samekh, shin, sin, tav or taw, teth, vav or waw, yod or yodh, zayin

Communications code words for the alphabet Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-Ray, Yankee, Zulu

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

أَبْجَدِيَّةالفباء، حُرُوف الهِجَاء، الأبْجَدِيَّه

abeceda

alfabet

Alphabet

αλφάβητο

alfabeto

abecedario alfabeto

tähestik

aakkosetaakkosto

alphabet

abecedaalfabet

ábécé

abjadalfabet

stafrófrittáknakerfi

alfabeto

アルファベット文字

알파벳

abecedariumalphabetum

alfabetasalfabetinisalfabetiškai

alfabēts

alfabet

alfabeto

alfabet

алфавит азбука

abeceda

alfabetalfabete

ตัวอักษร

alfabe

абеткаазбукаалфавітальфабет

bảng chữ cái

字母表

alphabet

[ˈælfəbet] N → alfabeto m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

alphabet

[ˈælfəbɛt] n → alphabet m
to learn the alphabet → apprendre l'alphabet
the Greek alphabet → l'alphabet grec
the phonetic alphabet → l'alphabet phonétique

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

alphabet

n → Alphabet nt; does he know the or his alphabet? → kann er schon das Abc?

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

alphabet

[ˈælfəbɛt] n → alfabeto

alphabet

(ˈӕlfəbit) noun

the letters of a written language arranged in order. I have learned all the letters of the Greek alphabet.

ˌalphaˈbetical (-ˈbe-) adjective

in alphabetical order.

ˌalphaˈbetically adverb

alphabet

→ أَبْجَدِيَّة abeceda alfabet Alphabet αλφάβητο abecedario aakkoset alphabet abeceda alfabeto アルファベット 알파벳 alfabet alfabet alfabet alfabeto алфавит alfabete ตัวอักษร alfabe bảng chữ cái 字母表

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

'The next step was to procure a set of metal types, with the different letters of the alphabet cast upon their ends; also a board, in which were square holes, into which holes she could set the types; so that the letters on their ends could alone be felt above the surface.

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So labour at your Alphabet, For by that learning shall you get To lands where Fairies may be met.

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ROMANCE, who loves to nod and sing, With drowsy head and folded wing, Among the green leaves as they shake Far down within some shadowy lake, To me a painted paroquet Hath been - a most familiar bird - Taught me my alphabet to say - To lisp my very earliest word While in the wild wood I did lie, A child - with a most knowing eye.

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Literature really means letters, for it comes from a Latin word littera, meaning a letter of the alphabet. Words are made by letters of the alphabet being set together, and our literature again by words being set together; hence the name.

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For in sciences which use demonstration there is that which is prior and that which is posterior in order; in geometry, the elements are prior to the propositions; in reading and writing, the letters of the alphabet are prior to the syllables.

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Frankfort has another distinction--it is the birthplace of the German alphabet; or at least of the German word for alphabet --BUCHSTABEN.

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It was his first introduction to the letters of the alphabet, and he was over ten years old.

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Perhaps even Hebrew might be necessary--at least the alphabet and a few roots--in order to arrive at the core of things, and judge soundly on the social duties of the Christian.

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One of these voices was spelling the alphabet distinctly.

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How or where she got it I do not know, but in some way she procured an old copy of Webster's "blue-back" spelling-book, which contained the alphabet, followed by such meaningless words as "ab," "ba," "ca," "da." I began at once to devour this book, and I think that it was the first one I ever had in my hands.

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Jocolpus Bumer, of the University of Belgrade, who established his conclusions on the subject in a work of three quarto volumes and committed suicide on being reminded that the j in the Roman alphabet had originally no curl.

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Having forgotten this gentleman's name, I must beg leave to distinguish him by means of a letter of the alphabet. Let me call him Mr.

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