alphabet

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Etymology

From Middle English alphabete, borrowed from Late Latin alphabētum, from Ancient Greek ἀλφάβητος, from ἄλφα and βῆτα, the names of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, Α and Β, lowercase forms α and β.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈæl.fə.bɛt/
• (uncommon) IPA: /ˈæl.fə.bɪt/

Noun

alphabet (plural alphabets)

1. The set of letters used when writing in a language.

   The Greek alphabet has only twenty-four letters.

   In the first year of school, pupils are taught to recite the alphabet.

2. 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.)
   1. A writing system in which there are letters for the consonant and vowel phonemes. (Contrast e.g. abjad.)
3. (computer science) A typically finite set of distinguishable symbols.

   Let L be a regular language over the alphabet \Sigma.

4. (India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia) An individual letter of an alphabet; an alphabetic character.
5. The simplest rudiments; elements.
6. (Internet slang, political) An agent of the FBI, the CIA, or another such government agency.

Synonyms

• ABC, absey

Related terms

• alphabetary (obsolete)
• alphabetician
• analphabet

Translations

• French: alphabet
• German: ABC, Alphabet
• Italian: alfabeto
• Portuguese: abc, abecê, á-bê-cê, alfabeto, abecedário
• Russian: алфави́т
• Spanish: alfabeto, abecedario

Verb

alphabet (alphabets, present participle alphabeting; simple past and past participle alphabeted)

1. (rare) To designate by the letters of the alphabet; to arrange alphabetically.

Synonyms

• alphabetize

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