alphabetic

American  

[al-fuh-bet-ik] / ˌæl fəˈbɛt ɪk /

adjective

1. relating to, expressed by, or using an alphabet.

   The language uses alphabetic writing.

2. alphabetical.

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Other Word Forms

• nonalphabetic
  adjective
• unalphabetic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of alphabetic

First recorded in 1640–50; from French alphabétique, from Late Latin alphabēticus, equivalent to alphabet ( def. ) + -ic ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

alphabetic

What appears to be evidence of the oldest alphabetic writing in human history is etched onto finger-length, clay cylinders excavated from a tomb in Syria by a team of Johns Hopkins University researchers.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 20, 2024

It used a combination of alphabetic signs, syllabic signs, word signs, and pictures of objects.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

Here is my alphabetic rundown of the past 12 months.

From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2022

As the scientists explain in an article published Wednesday in the Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology, the 17 letters on the comb form the oldest full, decipherable sentence ever found in an early alphabetic script.

From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2022

Because these are not alphabetic methods of communication, they are often dismissed as evidence that Indigenous peoples were “primitive,” but they are, in fact, far from primitive.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz