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alphabet

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
al·pha·bet  (lf-bt, -bt)
n.
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 alphabtum, from Greek alphabtos : alpha, alpha; see alpha + bta, beta; see beta.]
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alphabet

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

Alphabet
a teacher or learner of an alphabet.
an alphabet.
a person who is learning the alphabet.
the science of alphabets.
the representation of the sounds of speech in consistent graphic form.
the study or science of alphabets. — alphabetologist, n.
1. unable to read or write.
2. descriptive of a language written without an alphabet; that is, with a syllabary (Cherokee), in hieroglyphics (ancient Egyptian), in ideograms (Chinese) , or in pictograms (American Indian).
1. a system of symbols used to represent ideas.
2. expression by means of such symbols.
the study of written symbols or combinations of symbols representing letters of the alphabet or single phonems.
the practice or theory of following the letter or literal sense of something written. — literalist, n.
the art of transliteration. — metagraphic, adj.
the spelling of a word in one language with the alphabet of another language.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.alphabetalphabet - 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.alphabetalphabet - the elementary stages of any subject (usually plural); "he mastered only the rudiments of geometry"
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

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
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
Translations
alphabet [ˈælfəbet] Nalfabeto m

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

alphabet
nAlphabet nt; does he know the or his alphabet?kann er schon das Abc?

alphabet [ˈælfəbɛt] nalfabeto

alphabet
n alphabet [ˈӕlfəbit]
the letters of a written language arranged in order I have learned all the letters of the Greek alphabet. alfabet الفباء، حُرُوف الهِجَاء، الأبْجَدِيَّه азбука abeceda alfabet das Alphabet αλφάβητο alfabeto tähestik الفبا aakkoset alphabet אָלֶפבֵּית वर्णमाला abeceda ábécé abjad stafróf alfabeto アルファベット 알파벳 alfabetas alfabēts huruf alfabet alfabet alfabet alfabeto alfabet алфавит abeceda abeceda azbuka, abeceda alfabet ตัวอักษร alfabe 字母 алфавіт, абетка حروف تہجی bảng chữ cái
adj alphaˈbetical [-ˈbe-]
in alphabetical order. alfabeties الفبائي، أبْجَدِي азбучен abecední alfabetisk alphabetisch αλφαβητικός alfabético tähestikuline الفبایی aakkosellinen alphabétique אָלֶפבֵּיתי वर्णमालानुसार abecedni betűrendes menurut abjad stafrófs- alfabetico アルファベット順の 알파벳 순의 alfabetinis alfabētisks susunan huruf alfabetisch alfabetisk alfabetyczny alfabético alfabetic алфавитный abecedný abeceden alfabetisk ที่เรียงตามลำดับอักษร alfabetik 依字母順序的 алфавітний; абетковий حروف تہجی کی ترتیب سے thuộc bảng chữ cái
adv alphaˈbetically
alfabeties الفبائياً، أبْجَدِيَّاً по азбучен ред abecedně alfabetisk alphabetisch αλφαβητικά alfabéticamente tähestikjärjestuses به ترتیب الفبا aakkosjärjestyksessä alphabétiquement לְפִי סֶדֶר האָלֶפבֵּית वर्णमाला के क्रम से abecedno betűrendben urutan abjad í stafrófsröð in ordine alfabetico アルファベット順に 알파벳순으로 alfabetiškai alfabētiski mengikut susunan alfabetisch alfabetisk alfabetycznie por ordem alfabética alfabetic по алфавиту abecedne abecedno alfabetiskt ตามลำดับอักษร alfabetik olarak 依字母順序地 у алфавітному порядку حروف تہجی کے اعتبار سے theo thứ tự bảng chữ cái

alphabet أبجدية 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


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
So labour at your Alphabet, For by that learning shall you get To lands where Fairies may be met.
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.
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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