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alphabet

alphabet

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al·pha·bet    Audio Help   (āl'fə-bět', -bĭt)   

n.  

  1. The letters of a language, arranged in the order fixed by custom.

  2. A system of characters or symbols representing sounds or things.

  3. A set of basic parts or elements: "genetic markers . . . that contain repeated sequences of the DNA alphabet" (Sandra Blakeslee).


[Middle English alphabete, from Latin alphabētum, from Greek alphabētos : alpha, alpha; see alpha + bēta, beta; see beta.]
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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