c

¹

or c.

abbreviation for

1. (with a year) about:

   c1775.

C

²

or c

[ see ]

noun

, plural C's or Cs, c's or cs.

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.

³

abbreviation for

1. gallon.

c

⁴

or c.

abbreviation for

1. Optics. candle; candles.
2. cycle; cycles.

C

⁵

noun

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

c.

⁶

abbreviation for

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

⁷

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

⁸

abbreviation for

1. cocaine ( def ).
2. Grammar. complement ( def 6 ).
3. consonant ( def 1 ).
4. Electricity. coulomb ( def ).
5. county (used with a number to designate a county road):

   C55.

C

⁹

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 ( defs 2, 3 ).
6. centigrade ( def 2 ).
7. Electricity.
   1. capacitance ( def 3 ).
   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 ( def 1 ).
9. Physics.
   1. charge conjugation
   2. charm ¹( def 9 ).
10. Biochemistry.
    1. cysteine ( def ).
    2. cytosine ( def ).
11. Also Slang. 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

¹⁰

or c.

1. (in prescriptions) with.

C-

¹¹

U.S. Military.

1. (in designations of transport aircraft) cargo:

   C-54; C-124.

C.

¹²

abbreviation for

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

abbreviation for

1. (on maps as part of name) Cape
2. Catholic
3. Celtic
4. Conservative
5. Corps

C-

²

abbreviation for

1. cargo transport

   C-5

C

³

symbol for

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. Roman numeral 100 See Roman numerals

abbreviation for

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/-

⁴

abbreviation for

1. care of

c

⁵

symbol for

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

⁶

/ 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.

⁷

abbreviation for

1. carat
2. cricket caught
3. cent(s)
4. century or centuries
5. (used esp preceding a date) circa

   c. 1800

c

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of c¹

From Latin circā, circiter, circum

Origin of c²

From the Latin word congius

Origin of c³

From the Latin word cum

Word History and Origins

Origin of c¹

(for sense 5) Latin: about

Example Sentences

“She had written horrible things during the entire trial. She’s dead now, thank goodness, and nobody has to put up with that c**p she was writing all the time.”

From Salon

These malign forces will not magically disappear if Harris or some other Democrat or even a responsible Republican and real “small c” conservative were to become president.

From Salon

"Should I be scared about continuing to write that 'c**p?'"

From Salon

“If you put an ‘h’ after the ‘c’ it becomes a ‘ca’ sound.

From Los Angeles Times

He also said in an interview, “Lots of people say I need to chill out about Noel. Not until they stop Twitter. That c**t will always get it from me.”

From Salon

Related Words

• corruption
• disease
• malignancy
• sickness
• tumor