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

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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 DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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 DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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.]

FreebaseRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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 DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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 WurdzRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ALPHABET

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

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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 ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Alphabet

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

Matched Categories

1. • Character Set
   • Fundamentals
   • Script

How to pronounce alphabet?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

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. Akif Hamzacebi:

   Erdogan actually wants to revive the Arabic alphabet in Turkey.

2. Ludwig van Beethoven:

   I would rather write 10,000 notes than a single letter of the alphabet.”

3. Johann Kaspar Lavater:

   Action, looks, words, steps, form the alphabet by which you may spell character.

4. Dejan Stojanovic:

   There is another alphabet, whispering from every leaf, singing from every river, shimmering from every sky.

5. Frederic Goudy:

   Of all the achievements of the human mind, the birth of the alphabet is the most momentous.

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