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

However, the job has proved so slow – the first book was not produced until 1694 and today it takes more than a year to get through a single letter of the alphabet – that the relevance of the enterprise is increasingly in question.

From BBC

Major tech companies such as Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Amazon and Apple reported strong third-quarter earnings, with revenue exceeding expectations across the board.

From Salon

Waymo announced it will begin Waymo One service in Los Angeles County but will limit its vehicles to surface streets, where the startup owned by Google’s parent, Alphabet, has been testing the sensor-laden cars for months with a limited group of passengers.

From Los Angeles Times

But where did this broadcasting alphabet soup originate?

From Los Angeles Times

Part of the reason for that delay was the need to get input from the alphabet soup of city departments that have control over the street.

From Slate