From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [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, alphabet, ABC,
ABC's, ABCs]
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.
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2. The simplest rudiments; elements.
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The very alphabet of our law. --Macaulay.
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Deaf and dumb alphabet. See Dactylology.
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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.]
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