alphabet

alphabet — noun

1. all the letters that a language uses to write its words, listed in a standard or

1.nounB1
Definition

all the letters that a language uses to write its words, listed in a standard order such as A, B, C through Z in English.

Example

Xander taught her little brother to sing the English alphabet from A to Z.

the [language] alphabet

The Greek alphabet has twenty-four letters, beginning with alpha and ending with omega.

the [language] alphabet + has [number] letters

Common collocations
  • learn the alphabet
  • the Greek/Roman/Cyrillic alphabet
  • letter of the alphabet
  • recite the alphabet
Synonyms
  • ABCs

    informal, especially when talking about young children learning letters

  • letters

    refers to individual symbols, not the ordered set as a whole

Grammar Patterns

the [language] alphabet

Usage Note

Almost always preceded by 'the' (the alphabet) or by a language adjective (the Greek alphabet, the Arabic alphabet). When talking about ordering things by letter, the related adverb 'alphabetically' is more common than this noun.

Common Mistakes

I learned alphabet at school.
I learned the alphabet at school.
needs the article 'the' before 'alphabet'.
English has 26 alphabets.
The English alphabet has 26 letters.
one language uses one alphabet; the individual symbols are 'letters'.

2. the simplest and most basic ideas or skills that someone must learn before they

2.nounC1
Definition

the simplest and most basic ideas or skills that someone must learn before they can understand a particular subject — for example, knowing what a chord is before studying jazz, or how to hold a brush before painting.

Example

Reading sheet music is part of the alphabet of classical piano training.

the alphabet of [subject]

Professor Lin says that supply and demand are the alphabet of every economics course.

X is the alphabet of Y

Common collocations
  • the alphabet of [field]
  • master the alphabet of
Synonyms
  • basics

    more common in everyday speech; less literary

  • fundamentals

    neutral and widely used in academic contexts

  • rudiments

    formal, often paired with 'master' or 'grasp'

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

the alphabet of [subject]

Usage Note

Distinct from sense 1: this sense is figurative and almost always appears in the singular pattern 'the alphabet of [subject]'. Subject is typically an academic field, craft, or skill. Distinguish from sibling sense 1 (WRITING LETTERS), which is literal and physical.

Common Mistakes

Beginners must learn the alphabets of cooking.
Beginners must learn the alphabet of cooking.
this figurative sense is singular and uncountable in practice.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

An 'alphabet' is the complete, ordered set of symbols a language uses for writing — naming the system as a whole. 'Letters' refers to the individual symbols inside that system; you can write a single letter but you cannot write a single alphabet. 'ABCs' is a friendly, informal name for the alphabet, especially when adults talk about young children learning to read ('she already knows her ABCs'). 'Script' is broader and more technical: it names a writing system regardless of whether it is alphabetic — Chinese script, for example, is not an alphabet because each symbol stands for a word, not a sound. So you would say 'the Greek alphabet has 24 letters', but 'Chinese script' rather than 'the Chinese alphabet'.

alphabet ↗lettersABCsscript ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • learn the alphabet
  • recite the alphabet
  • letter of the alphabet
  • alphabet song
  • alphabet soup

Prepositions

  • of (the alphabet of [subject])
  • in (in alphabetical order)

Etymology

PhoenicianGreekLate LatinMiddle FrenchEnglish

The word reaches English through Late Latin 'alphabetum', which simply joined the names of the first two Greek letters: alpha (Α) and beta (Β). The Greeks themselves had borrowed and adapted their letter shapes from a Phoenician writing system around 800 BCE. English picked up 'alphabet' in the early 1500s, replacing earlier Old English terms for the letter set such as 'abecedarie'.