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

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. alphabet(noun)

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

2. rudiment, first rudiment, first principle, alphabet, ABC, ABC's, ABCs(noun)

   the elementary stages of any subject (usually plural)

   "he mastered only the rudiments of geometry"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. alphabet(Noun)

   The set of letters used when writing in a language.

2. alphabet(Noun)

   A typically finite set of distinguishable symbols.

   Let uE0001740uE001 be a regular language over the alphabet uE0001741uE001.

3. alphabet(Noun)

   One particular letter used in writing a language.

Wikipedia(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

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.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Alphabet(noun)

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

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

2. Alphabet(noun)

   the simplest rudiments; elements

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

3. Alphabet(verb)

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

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

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

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(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

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(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. ALPHABET

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

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

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  

How to pronounce alphabet?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

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. Lawyer Shreya Rastogi:

   She tried to teach( Bittu) a little bit to the extent that she could, she used to take classes for him, she used to get him to learn the alphabet, numbers, also the children of the other female inmates that were there she would teach them as well.

2. David Dinielli:

   Google search is not a neutral gateway to the information available on the web, google search is a set of algorithms designed to make Google — or Alphabet, its parent company — the most money it can possibly make.

3. 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.

4. Khalid Khan:

   Starting a screen name with a letter in the top half of the alphabet is surprisingly important, because several measures of success, such as educational attainment and income, are linked to names higher up the alphabet, add to this the fact that search engines sort names alphabetically.

5. James Cakmak:

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

Images & Illustrations of alphabet

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