Standard Lemma guide
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
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.
noun
The set of letters used when writing in a language.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A writing system in which letters represent phonemes. (Contrast e.g. logography, a writing system in which each character represents a word, and syllabary, in which each character represents a syllable.)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A writing system in which letters represent phonemes. (Contrast e.g. logography, a writing system in which each character represents a word, and syllabary, in which each character represents a syllable.)
A writing system in which there are letters for the consonant and vowel phonemes. (Contrast e.g. abjad.)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A typically finite set of distinguishable symbols.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: computer, computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, science, sciences
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
An individual letter of an alphabet; an alphabetic character.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Hong-Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, dialectal, nonstandard
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
The simplest rudiments; elements.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
An agent of the FBI, the CIA, or another such government agency.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Internet
Topics: government, politics
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To designate by the letters of the alphabet; to arrange alphabetically.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: rare
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
the elementary stages of any subject (usually plural)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: rudiment, first rudiment, first principle, ABC, ABC's, ABCs
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: fundamentals, basics, fundamental principle, basic principle, bedrock
noun
a character set that includes letters and is used to write a language
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: script, character set
Narrower terms: Armenian, Armenian alphabet, Roman alphabet, Latin alphabet, Hebrew alphabet, Hebraic alphabet, Hebrew script, Greek alphabet, Cyrillic alphabet, Cyrillic, Arabic alphabet, phonetic alphabet, sound alphabet, manual alphabet, finger alphabet
History
Etymology tree Proto-Semitic *ʔalp- Phoenician 𐤀𐤋𐤐 (ʾlp)bor. Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha) Proto-Semitic *bayt- Phoenician 𐤁𐤕 (bt)bor. Ancient Greek βῆτᾰ (bêtă) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Hellenic *-os Ancient Greek -ος (-os) Ancient Greek ἀλφάβητος (alphábētos) Byzantine Greek ἀλφάβητον (alphábēton)der. Classical Latin alphabētumbor. Middle English alphabete English alphabet From Middle English alphabete, borrowed from Classical Latin alphabētum, from Ancient Greek ἀλφάβητος (alphábētos), from ἄλφα (álpha) and βῆτα (bêta), the names of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, Α (A) and Β (B), lowercase forms α and β. The Greek names derived from aleph, the name of the Phoenician letter 𐤀 (ʾ, “ox”) and beth, the name of the letter 𐤁 (b, “house”), so called because they were pictograms of those objects, having developed from the Egyptian hieroglyphs F1 (𓃾) and pr (𓉐). Doublet of alfabeto.
Across languages
269 source translations are retained for this English entry.
