What does alphabet mean?

Definitions for alphabet
ˈæl fəˌbɛt, -bɪtal·pha·bet

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word alphabet.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. alphabetnoun

    a character set that includes letters and is used to write a language

  2. rudiment, first rudiment, first principle, alphabet, ABC, ABC's, ABCsnoun

    the elementary stages of any subject (usually plural)

    "he mastered only the rudiments of geometry"

Wiktionary

  1. alphabetnoun

    The set of letters used when writing in a language.

  2. alphabetnoun

    A typically finite set of distinguishable symbols.

    Let uE0001740uE001 be a regular language over the alphabet uE0001741uE001.

  3. alphabetnoun

    One particular letter used in writing a language.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. ALPHABETnoun

    The order of the letters, or elements of speech.

    Etymology: from ἄλφα, alpha, and βῆτα, beta, the two first letters of the Greeks.

    Thou shalt not sigh,
    Nor wink, nor nod, nor kneel, nor make a sign,
    But I of these will rest an alphabet,
    And by still practice learn to know thy meaning. William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus.

    The letters of the alphabet, formed by the several motions of the mouth, and the great variety of syllables composed of letters, and formed with almost equal velocity, and the endless number of words capable of being framed out of the alphabet, either of more syllables, or of one. William Holder.

    Taught by their nurses, little children get
    This saying, sooner than their alphabet. John Dryden, Juv.

  2. To Alphabetverb

    To range in the order of the alphabet.

    Etymology: from alphabet, noun.

Wikipedia

  1. Alphabet

    An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written symbols or graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syllable, for instance, and logographic systems use characters to represent words, morphemes, or other semantic units. The first fully phonemic script, the Proto-Canaanite script, later known as the Phoenician alphabet, is considered to be the first alphabet, and is the ancestor of most modern alphabets, including Arabic, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and possibly Brahmic. It was created by Semitic-speaking workers and slaves in the Sinai Peninsula (as the Proto-Sinaitic script), by selecting a small number of hieroglyphs commonly seen in their Egyptian surroundings to describe the sounds, as opposed to the semantic values, of their own Canaanite language. Peter T. Daniels, however, distinguishes an abugida or alphasyllabary, a set of graphemes that represent consonantal base letters which diacritics modify to represent vowels (as in Devanagari and other South Asian scripts), an abjad, in which letters predominantly or exclusively represent consonants (as in the original Phoenician, Hebrew or Arabic), and an "alphabet", a set of graphemes that represent both vowels and consonants. In this narrow sense of the word the first "true" alphabet was the Greek alphabet, which was developed on the basis of the earlier Phoenician alphabet. Of the dozens of alphabets in use today, the most popular is the Latin alphabet, which was derived from the Greek, and which many languages modify by adding letters formed using diacritical marks. While most alphabets have letters composed of lines (linear writing), there are also exceptions such as the alphabets used in Braille. The Khmer alphabet (for Cambodian) is the longest, with 74 letters.Alphabets are usually associated with a standard ordering of letters. This makes them useful for purposes of collation, specifically by allowing words to be sorted in alphabetical order. It also means that their letters can be used as an alternative method of "numbering" ordered items, in such contexts as numbered lists and number placements.

ChatGPT

  1. alphabet

    An alphabet is a standardized set of letters or symbols, each representing a phoneme of a spoken language. These letters or symbols can be arranged to form words, phrases, and sentences. Alphabetic systems are used as a primary method of written communication in various languages around the world.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Alphabetnoun

    the letters of a language arranged in the customary order; the series of letters or signs which form the elements of written language

  2. Alphabetnoun

    the simplest rudiments; elements

  3. Alphabetverb

    to designate by the letters of the alphabet; to arrange alphabetically

  4. Etymology: [L. alphabetum, fr. Gr. + , the first two Greek letters; Heb. leph and beth: cf. F. alphabet.]

Wikidata

  1. Alphabet

    An alphabet is a standard set of letters which is used to write one or more languages based on the general principle that the letters represent phonemes of the spoken language. This is in contrast to other types of writing systems, such as syllabaries and logographies. A true alphabet has letters for the vowels of a language as well as the consonants. The first "true alphabet" in this sense is believed to be the Greek alphabet, which is a modified form of the Phoenician alphabet. In other types of alphabet either the vowels are not indicated at all, as was the case in the Phoenician alphabet, or else the vowels are shown by diacritics or modification of consonants, as in the devanagari used in India and Nepal. There are dozens of alphabets in use today, the most popular being the Latin alphabet. Many languages use modified forms of the Latin alphabet, with additional letters formed using diacritical marks. While most alphabets have letters composed of lines, there are also exceptions such as the alphabets used in Braille, fingerspelling, and Morse code.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Alphabet

    al′fa-bet, n. the letters of a language arranged in the usual order.—n. Alphabetā′rian, one learning his alphabet, a beginner: a student of alphabets.—adjs. Alphabet′ic, -al, relating to or in the order of an alphabet.—adv. Alphabet′ically.—v.t. Al′phabetise, to arrange alphabetically:—pr.p. al′phabetīsing; pa.p. al′phabetīsed. [Gr. alpha, beta, the first two Greek letters.]

The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon Wurdz

  1. ALPHABET

    A toy for the children found in books, blocks, pictures and vermicelli soup. Contains 26 letters and only three syllables.

Editors Contribution

  1. alphabet

    System of letters, symbols and characters to communicate or express language.

    The Alphabet varies according to what language.


    Submitted by MaryC on January 31, 2020  

Suggested Resources

  1. Alphabet

    Alphabet vs. Letter -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Alphabet and Letter.

How to pronounce alphabet?

How to say alphabet in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of alphabet in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of alphabet in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of alphabet in a Sentence

  1. Jessica Cantlon:

    We looked at which areas of the brain respond more strongly to mathematics content in the videos and tasks, compared to non-math content like reading or the alphabet. So you can define the math network that way by looking at regions that respond more strongly.

  2. James Cakmak:

    For the first time they( Alphabet) have a real catalyst to the stock, aside from a standard beat-and-raise.

  3. David Drummond:

    With Larry and Sergey now leaving their executive roles at Alphabet, the company is entering an exciting new phase, and I believe that it's also the right time for me to make way for the next generation of leaders.

  4. Henry David Thoreau:

    Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink, I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains. I would drink deeper; fish fill the sky, whose bottom is pebbly with stars. I cannot count one. I know not the first letter of the alphabet. I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born.

  5. Goldman Sachs analyst Heather Bellini:

    Thank you so much for the enhanced disclosure, i think this is the best Google Cloud call — or Alphabet call — that I've been on since I covered the company.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

alphabet#10000#10686#100000

Translations for alphabet

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for alphabet »

Translation

Find a translation for the alphabet definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"alphabet." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/alphabet>.

Discuss these alphabet definitions with the community:

0 Comments

    Are we missing a good definition for alphabet? Don't keep it to yourself...

    Image or illustration of

    alphabet

    Credit »

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Browse Definitions.net

    Quiz

    Are you a words master?

    »
    joint that forms a corner; usually both sides are bevelled at a 45-degree angle to form a 90-degree corner
    A scholastic
    B abandon
    C mitre
    D nitrile

    Nearby & related entries:

    Alternative searches for alphabet: