Alphabet

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Alphabet \Al"pha*bet\, n. [L. alphabetum, fr. Gr. ? + ?, the
     first two Greek letters; Heb. [=a]leph and beth: cf. F.
     alphabet.]
     1. The letters of a language arranged in the customary order;
        the series of letters or signs which form the elements of
        written language.


        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The simplest rudiments; elements.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The very alphabet of our law.         --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Deaf and dumb alphabet}. See {Dactylology}.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Alphabet \Al"pha*bet\, v. t.
     To designate by the letters of the alphabet; to arrange
     alphabetically. [R.]
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  alphabet
       n 1: a character set that includes letters and is used to write a
            language
       2: the elementary stages of any subject (usually plural); "he
          mastered only the rudiments of geometry" [syn: {rudiment},
           {first rudiment}, {first principle}, {ABC}, {ABC's}, {ABCs}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  78 Moby Thesaurus words for "alphabet":
     IPA, ITA, Initial Teaching Alphabet,
     International Phonetic Alphabet, alphabetics, art, basics,
     beginning, blueprint, charactering, characterization, chart,
     choreography, commencement, conventional representation,
     dance notation, delineation, demonstration, depiction, depictment,
     diagram, drama, drawing, elements, exemplification, figuration,
     first principles, first steps, fundamentals, futhark, grammar,
     graphemics, hieroglyphic, hornbook, iconography, ideogram,
     illustration, imagery, imaging, induction, letter, letters,
     limning, logogram, logograph, map, musical notation, notation,
     outlines, outset, paleography, pictogram, picturization, plan,
     portraiture, portrayal, prefigurement, presentment, primer,
     principia, principles, printing, projection, realization,
     rendering, rendition, representation, rudiments, runic alphabet,
     schema, score, script, start, syllabary, symbol, tablature,
     writing, writing system