definitions

alphabet

[ al-fuh-bet, -bit ]
/ ˈæl fəˌbɛt, -bɪt /
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR alphabet ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the letters of a language in their customary order.
any system of characters or signs with which a language is written: the Greek alphabet.
any such system for representing the sounds of a language: the phonetic alphabet.
first elements; basic facts; simplest rudiments: the alphabet of genetics.
the alphabet, a system of writing, developed in the ancient Near East and transmitted from the northwest Semites to the Greeks, in which each symbol ideally represents one sound unit in the spoken language, and from which most alphabetical scripts are derived.

RELATED CONTENT

Before X Was X: The Dark Horse Story Of The 24th LetterSince its inception, the letter X has struggled to establish its own identity, so it may be no coincidence that X is commonly used to represent the unknown in both language and mathematics. But, how was it created?
READ MORE
Who Wrote The Alphabet Song?Whether you learned your ABCs while hanging out with the gang from Sesame Street, from someone in your family, or you were schooled in everything from A to Z in kindergarten, you probably learned the alphabet with the help of the alphabet song ...
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

fundamentals, morphemes, elements, syllabary, symbols, ideograph, rune, hieroglyphs, characters, phonemes, pictograph

Nearby words

alpha-particle scattering, alpha-receptor, alpha-stannic acid, alpha-test, alpha-tocopherol, alphabet, alphabet code, alphabet soup, alphabetical, alphabetize, alphanumeric

Origin of alphabet

1375–1425; late Middle English alphabete < Late Latin alphabētum, alteration of Greek alphábētos. See alpha, beta

Related forms

pre·al·pha·bet, adjective, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for alphabet

British Dictionary definitions for alphabet

alphabet

/ (ˈælfəˌbɛt) /

noun

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
any set of symbols or characters, esp one representing sounds of speech
basic principles or rudiments, as of a subject

Word Origin for alphabet

C15: from Late Latin alphabētum, from Greek alphabētos, from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet; see alpha, beta
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012