alphabet

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The set of letters used when writing in a language.

   The Greek alphabet has only twenty-four letters.

2. 2
   noun

   A typically finite set of distinguishable symbols.

   Let L be a regular language over the alphabet #92;Sigma.

3. 3
   noun

   An individual letter of an alphabet; an alphabetic character.

   The notes are named with the first seven alphabets.

4. 4
   noun

   The simplest rudiments; elements.

   The very alphabet of our law.

5. 5
   noun

   the elementary stages of any subject (usually plural)

6. 6
   noun

   a character set that includes letters and is used to write a language

7. 7
   noun

   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.)

8. 8
   noun

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

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…