alphabet

[ al-fuh-bet, -bit ]

noun

1. the letters of a language in their customary order.
2. any system of characters or signs with which a language is written:

   the Greek alphabet.

3. any system of characters or signs used to represent the sounds of a language:

   the phonetic alphabet.

4. first elements; basic facts; simplest rudiments:

   the alphabet of genetics.

5. the alphabet, a system of writing, developed in the ancient Middle 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 alphabetic scripts are derived.

alphabet

/ ˈælfəˌbɛt /

noun

1. 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
2. any set of symbols or characters, esp one representing sounds of speech
3. basic principles or rudiments, as of a subject

Other Words From

• pre·alpha·bet adjective noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of alphabet¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English alphabete from Late Latin alphabētum, alteration of Greek alphábētos; alpha, beta

Word History and Origins

Origin of alphabet¹

C15: from Late Latin alphabētum, from Greek alphabētos, from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet; see alpha , beta

Example Sentences

"But our artifacts are older and from a different area on the map, suggesting the alphabet may have an entirely different origin story than we thought."

From Science Daily

It doesn't seem to progress much further through the alphabet.

From BBC

The x-height is the height of most lowercase letters in the Latin alphabet, and makes up nearly all of the printed marks on a page.

From BBC

Before his first major Hollywood breakout, he became part of the test run for “Sesame Street,” seen in a 1969 video clip of him reading the alphabet.

From Salon

But where did this broadcasting alphabet soup originate?

From Los Angeles Times