Jump To:

• c
  c

  abbreviation

  (with a year) about.
• C
  C

  noun

  the third letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
• c̄
  c̄

  (in prescriptions) with.
• C-
  C-

  (in designations of transport aircraft) cargo.
• c.
  c.

  abbreviation

  gallon.
• C.
  C.

  abbreviation

  Calorie.
• c/-
  c/-

  abbreviation

  care of

c

¹ American  

Or c.

abbreviation

1. (with a year) about.

   c1775.

---

c ² American  

Or c.

abbreviation

1. Optics. candle; candles.

2. cycle; cycles.

---

c ³ American  

Symbol.

1. Physics, Optics. the speed of light in a vacuum: standardized as 186,282.4 miles per second (299,792,458 meters per second).

2. Physics, Acoustics. the speed of sound.

---

C ⁴ American  

[see] / si /

Or c

noun

• C's,
  plural
• Cs,
  plural
• c's,
  plural
• cs
  plural

1. the third letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.

2. any spoken sound represented by the letter C or c, as in cat, race, or circle.

3. something having the shape of a C .

4. a written or printed representation of the letter C or c.

5. a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter C or c.

---

C ⁵ American  

noun

1. Computers. a high-level programming language: very powerful and flexible, it is used in a wide variety of applications.

---

C ⁶ American  

abbreviation

1. cocaine.

2. Grammar. complement.

3. consonant.

4. Electricity. coulomb.

5. county (used with a number to designate a county road).

   C55.

---

C ⁷ American  

Symbol.

1. the third in order or in a series.

2. (in some grading systems) a grade or mark, as in school or college, indicating the quality of a student's work as fair or average. Sometimes c

3. Music.

   1. the first tone, or keynote, in the scale of C major or the third tone in the relative minor scale, A minor.

   2. a string, key, or pipe tuned to this tone.

   3. a written or printed note representing this tone.

   4. (in the fixed system of solmization) the first tone of the scale of C major, called do.

   5. the tonality having C as the tonic note.

   6. a symbol indicating quadruple time and appearing after the clef sign on a musical staff.

4. the Roman numeral for 100. Sometimes c

5. Celsius.

6. centigrade.

7. Electricity.

   1. capacitance.

   2. a battery size for 1.5 volt dry cells: diameter, 1 inch (2.5 centimeters); length, 1.9 inches (4.8 centimeters).

8. Chemistry. carbon.

9. Physics.

   1. charge conjugation

   2. charm.

10. Biochemistry.

    1. cysteine.

    2. cytosine.

11. Slang. Also a hundred-dollar bill.

12. a proportional shoe width size, narrower than D and wider than B.

13. a proportional brassiere cup size, smaller than D and larger than B.

14. the lowest quality rating for a corporate or municipal bond.

---

c̄ ⁸ American  

Or c.

1. (in prescriptions) with.

---

C- ⁹ American  

U.S. Military.

1. (in designations of transport aircraft) cargo.

   C-54; C-124.

---

c. ¹⁰ American  

abbreviation

1. gallon.

---

c. ¹¹ American  

abbreviation

1. Optics. candle; candles. Also c

2. carat.

3. carbon.

4. carton.

5. case.

6. Baseball. catcher.

7. cathode.

8. cent; cents.

9. centavo.

10. Football. center.

11. centigrade.

12. centime.

13. centimeter.

14. century.

15. chairman; chairperson.

16. chapter.

17. chief.

18. child.

19. church.

20. cirrus.

21. city.

22. cloudy.

23. cognate.

24. color.

25. copper.

26. copyright.

27. corps.

28. cubic.

29. cycle; cycles. Also c

---

C. ¹² American  

abbreviation

1. Calorie.

2. Cape.

3. Catholic.

4. Celsius.

5. Celtic.

6. Centigrade.

7. College.

8. (in Costa Rica and El Salvador) colon; colons.

9. Congress.

10. Conservative.

---

c/- ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. care of

---

c ² British  

/ siː /

noun

1. the third letter and second consonant of the modern English alphabet

2. a speech sound represented by this letter, in English usually either a voiceless alveolar fricative, as in cigar, or a voiceless velar stop, as in case

3. the third in a series, esp the third highest grade in an examination

4. 1. something shaped like a C

   2. ( in combination )

      a C-spring

---

c ³ British  

symbol

1. centi-

2. cubic

3. cycle

4. maths constant

5. specific heat capacity

6. the speed of light and other types of electromagnetic radiation in a vacuum

7. chess See algebraic notation

---

C. ⁴ British  

abbreviation

1. (on maps as part of name) Cape

2. Catholic

3. Celtic

4. Conservative

5. Corps

---

C- ⁵ British  

abbreviation

1. cargo transport

   C-5

---

C ⁶ British  

symbol

1. music

   1. a note having a frequency of 261.63 hertz ( middle C ) or this value multiplied or divided by any power of 2; the first degree of a major scale containing no sharps or flats ( C major )

   2. a key, string, or pipe producing this note

   3. the major or minor key having this note as its tonic

   4. a time signature denoting four crotchet beats to the bar See also alla breve common time

2. chem carbon

3. biochem cytosine

4. capacitance

5. heat capacity

6. cold (water)

7. physics compliance

8. Celsius

9. centigrade

10. century

    C20

11. coulomb

12. 100 See Roman numerals

---

abbreviation

1. Cuba (international car registration)

noun

1. a computer programming language combining the advantages of a high-level language with the ability to address the computer at a level comparable with that of an assembly language

c. ⁷ British  

abbreviation

1. carat

2. cricket caught

3. cent(s)

4. century or centuries

5. (used esp preceding a date) circa

   c. 1800

---

c Scientific  

1. The symbol for the speed of light in a vacuum.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• C's
  plural
• Cs
  plural
• c's
  plural
• cs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of c¹

From Latin circā, circiter, circum

Origin of c̄⁸

From the Latin word cum

Origin of c.¹⁰

From the Latin word congius

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

c C C- c. C. C's Cs c's cs

We can also see a copy of William Beechey’s c.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026

Instead of having just three parameters—a, b, and c in this quadratic—the latest A.I. chatbots are estimated to have trillions of parameters.

From Slate ● May 25, 2026

Not every editor is quite as catholic with a little c, as ecumenical, as excited about such a range of writing as I am.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026

This is often what I'd describe as campaigning with a small "c" – discreet conversations and planning, the vast majority a long way from the public gaze and deniable.

From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2025

Andrew always gets stuck on questions like: “How come y = x + c? Why not z?”

From "Ninth Ward" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

The Hepatitis C Trust says England is "on the cusp" of one of the most significant public health achievements in our country's history.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

NHS England says that since 2015, more than 100,000 people have been diagnosed and treated for hepatitis C, meaning the country is already meeting that target.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

A middle C would smell like a rose; bass notes like clove and vanilla.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Modern research is giving vitamin C a second look in cancer, and it turns out that under certain conditions it can behave less like a gentle vitamin and more like a drug.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

Start with pieces written in C, and play them only a half step or whole step lower or higher than written.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

While it is hard to find universal statistics for everyone on Earth, European researchers estimated in a study published in 2018 that more than 0.5 percent of people in Germany suffer from C- PTSD.

From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2023

Its answer would’ve probably earned a C or C-.

From Slate ● Dec. 13, 2022

Searchlight’s “The Night House,” which was very well-reviewed, didn’t connect with its opening weekend audience, who gave it a C- CinemaScore.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 22, 2021

"Old" arrived with a worse reception from moviegoers — it landed a "C-" CinemaScore — but Shyamalan's signature twist endings can benefit from a communal viewing experience.

From Reuters ● Jul. 25, 2021

She holds my current grades by two fingers: D, C, B-, D, C-, C, A. No basketball team for me, because the A was in art, so my GPA is a whopping 1.7.

From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

The earliest are three allegorical scenes about the senses from c. 1624-25, when he was just shy of 20.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 24, 2026

Taped to the bottom of an Art Deco ceramic vase, for example, she has written: “Weller, Forest c. 1920. Paid $1 at a yard sale. Took to Antiques Roadshow in the 1990s. Valued at $250-$350.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2025

The two panels, sometimes known as the “New York Diptych,” are dated c. 1440-1441, near the end of van Eyck’s life.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 14, 2020

“That’s the small c. But the big C in my life is Christianity.”

From Slate ● Dec. 23, 2019

The inscription turned out to be a date: September 3,32 b. c. , in today’s calendar.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Reducing EPS8 levels in human cell models of Huntington's disease and ALS produced results similar to those seen in C. elegans.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026

Alonzo C. Wakeman, the fort’s quartermaster’s deputy, informed the Los Angeles Star that the earth “opened in many places for a distance of 20 miles.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

Southern Democrats gathered separately and chose Kentucky’s John C. Breckinridge, the sitting pro-slavery vice president.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

When Vera C. Bushfield succeeded her late husband in 1948, she didn’t even bother to move to Washington.

From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026

He brought an insurance man, C. W. Arnold, to meet with Ned.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

As I sit in the car with C after the second ICE vehicle sped off, the remaining Wagoneer idles midblock—right in front of C’s house.

From Slate ● Jan. 16, 2026

In high school, I received mostly B’s and C’s, and I didn’t study for the SATs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 2, 2025

Each of League C's six group winners will be promoted.

From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2024

Maya recommends focusing on three C’s: catch, cause and cancer.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 22, 2024

Now I get mostly B’s, with a sprinkle of C’s, except for English.

From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez

Only eight banks got Bs, while the majority got Cs; 36 got Ds.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 27, 2026

"And by now, they would have found them. There would be plan Bs and plan Cs, to make sure that we have reduced this exposure to the US."

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2025

Alleah got three Cs, three Bs and an A, allowing her to go to Bridgend College to study performing arts.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2024

However, despite abundant Cs in the microparticles, direct atomic scale imaging of radioactive Cs in the particles has proven impossible.

From Science Daily ● May 15, 2024

Some Os and Qs and Cs long and narrow.

From "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia

Beyond consent, the other two c’s, credit and compensation, have their own challenges, as illustrated even now with the high cost of litigation regarding infringements of copyright or patents.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 7, 2023

“It hasn’t rained in months,” she said, her Tuscan Italian full of soft g’s and c’s.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 4, 2021

On the other hand I can always tell you that I lost a spelling bee to Juanita Meyers in the fifth grade; the word was necessary, I misspelled it with two "c's."

From New York Times ● Apr. 30, 2016

Hard consonants - k's, d's, hard c's and hard g's - gave me hell.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 21, 2010

Don’t be tempted to double up on/’s or c’s.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

A contestant in the Season 3 premiere lays out her "four cs" theory of success: "courage, creativity, cash and celebrity."

From Time Magazine Archive

C or cz is pronounced as English ts; cs as English ch; ds as English j; zs as French j; gy as dy.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 8 "Hudson River" to "Hurstmonceaux" by Various

After giving the sound of x as cs, Marius Victorinus goes on to speak of z thus:

From The Roman Pronunciation of Latin Why we use it and how to use it by Frances Ellen Lord

Of these, x was equivalent to cs, while the equivalence of z is uncertain.

From New Latin Grammar by Charles E. (Charles Edwin) Bennett

Quintilian remarks that x is not an indispensable letter in Latin, implying that cs and gs could take its place.

From Latin Pronunciation A Short Exposition of the Roman Method by Harry Thurston Peck

Related Words

• corruption
• disease
• malignancy
• sickness
• tumor