noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ˈɑˌlɛf/
/ˈɑˌlɪf/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:AA1 L AH0 F
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, and its descendants in descended Semitic scripts, such as Phoenician 𐤀 (ʾ, ʾaleph), Aramaic 𐡀 (ʾ), Classical Syriac ܐ ('ālaph), Hebrew א (aleph) and Arabic ا (ʾalif).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The cardinality of an infinite well-ordered (or well-orderable) set.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: mathematics, sciences
Examples
The axiom of choice is equivalent to the proposition that every infinite cardinal is an aleph.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
the 1st letter of the Hebrew alphabet
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: letter, letter of the alphabet, alphabetic character
History
Etymology
Borrowed from Hebrew אָלֶף (álef). Doublet of alpha and alif.
Across languages
Translations
43 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
أَلِف
(ʔalif)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Arabic:
ا
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Aramaic:
ܐܠܦ
(ʾālaf)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Aramaic:
ܐ
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Armenian:
ալեֆ
(alef)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Catalan:
àlef
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Chinese Mandarin:
阿列夫
(ālièfū)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Chinese Mandarin:
阿利夫
(ālìfu)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Chinese Mandarin:
艾利夫
(àilìfu)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Finnish:
alef
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
French:
aleph
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
French:
alef
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Georgian:
ალეფი
(alepi)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
German:
Aleph
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
German:
Alef
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Greek:
άλεφ
(álef)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Hebrew:
אָלֶף
(álef)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Hebrew:
א
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Hindi:
आलेफ़
(ālef)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Italian:
alef
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Japanese:
アレフ
(arefu)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Japanese:
アリフ
(arifu)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Korean:
알레프
(allepeu)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Korean:
알리프
(allipeu)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Macedonian:
алеф
(alef)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Malay:
alif
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Pashto:
الف
(alíf)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Dari:
اَلِف
(alif)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Dari:
ا
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Iranian Persian:
اَلِف
(alef)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Iranian Persian:
ا
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Polish:
alef
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Portuguese:
alef
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Russian:
а́леф
(álef)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Russian:
а́лиф
(álif)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Serbo-Croatian:
алеф
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Serbo-Croatian:
alef
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Spanish:
álef
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Thai:
อาเลฟ
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Turkish:
elif
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Urdu:
اَلِف
(alif)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Urdu:
ا
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
Yiddish:
אַלף
(alef)
— first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
