alphabet
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Related to alphabet: phonetic alphabet
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.
al·pha·bet
(ăl′fə-bĕt′, -bĭt)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 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)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
[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]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
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).
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.
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.
-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
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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" 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 |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
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
alfabeto
tähestik
aakkosetaakkosto
abecedaalfabet
ábécé
abjadalfabet
stafrófrittáknakerfi
アルファベット文字
알파벳
abecedariumalphabetum
alfabetasalfabetinisalfabetiškai
alfabēts
alfabet
abeceda
alfabetalfabete
ตัวอักษร
абеткаазбукаалфавітальфабет
bảng chữ cái
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 mto 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
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
alphabet
(ˈӕlfəbit) noun the letters of a written language arranged in order. I have learned all the letters of the Greek alphabet.
ˌalphaˈbetical (-ˈbe-) adjectivein alphabetical order.
ˌalphaˈbetically adverbKernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
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Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009