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alphabet

noun
/ˈæl.fəˌbɛt/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Semitic *ʔalp- Phoenician 𐤀𐤋𐤐 (ʾlp)bor. Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha) Proto-Semitic *bayt- Phoenician 𐤁𐤕 (bt)bor. Ancient Greek βῆτᾰ (bêtă) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Hellenic *-os Ancient Greek -ος (-os) Ancient Greek ἀλφάβητος (alphábētos) Byzantine Greek ἀλφάβητον (alphábēton)der. Classical Latin alphabētumbor. Middle English alphabete English alphabet From Middle English alphabete, borrowed from Classical Latin alphabētum, from Ancient Greek ἀλφάβητος (alphábētos), from ἄλφα (álpha) and βῆτα (bêta), the names of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, Α (A) and Β (B), lowercase forms α and β. The Greek names derived from aleph, the name of the Phoenician letter 𐤀 (ʾ, “ox”) and beth, the name of the letter 𐤁 (b, “house”), so called because they were pictograms of those objects, having developed from the Egyptian hieroglyphs F1 (𓃾) and pr (𓉐). Doublet of alfabeto.

  1. derived from ἀλφάβητος
  2. derived from alphabētum
  3. inherited from alphabete

Definitions

  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…

    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.)

  3. A typically finite set of distinguishable symbols.

    • Let L be a regular language over the alphabet #92;Sigma.
  4. ›+ 4 more definitions

    1. An individual letter of an alphabet

      An individual letter of an alphabet; an alphabetic character.

      • The notes are named with the first seven alphabets.
      • We realize the fact that the alphabet A has been used in many world scripts as a vowel with the others AEIOU.
      • There are 26 alphabets in English.

    2. The simplest rudiments

      The simplest rudiments; elements.

      • The very alphabet of our law.

    3. An agent of the FBI, the CIA, or another such government agency.

    4. To designate by the letters of the alphabet

      To designate by the letters of the alphabet; to arrange alphabetically.

The neighborhood

Derived

alphabetarian, alphabeted, alphabetic(-al) → alphabetically, multi-, poly-, prealphabetic, alphabetiform, alphabetism, alphabetitis, alphabetize, -ise, alphabetlike, alphametic, alphanumeric(-al), alphasort, ARPAbet, multialphabet, prealphabet, semi-alphabet, unalphabeted, alphabet agency, alphabet block, alphabet book, alphabet boy, alphabet brick, alphabet mafia, alphabet of desire, alphabet oracle, alphabet soup, Euclidean alphabet, finger alphabet, hand alphabet, ICAO spelling alphabet, International Phonetic Alphabet, manual alphabet, mixed alphabet, movable alphabet, moveable alphabet, NATO phonetic alphabet, phonetic alphabet · +21 more

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at alphabet. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

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A definitional loop anchored at alphabet. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at alphabet

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA