alphabet
al·pha·bet/ˈæl.fəˌbɛt/noun, verb
alphabet is spelled A-L-P-H-A-B-E-T: 8 letters and 3 syllables (al·pha·bet). It appears 5.0 times per million words in written English, the 11,198th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, alphabet means “The set of letters used when writing in a language” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of alphabet is alphabets.
How many letters and syllables are in alphabet?
| Letters | 8: A-L-P-H-A-B-E-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: al·pha·bet |
| In writing | 5.0 times per million words; the 11,198th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is alphabet?
Alphabet appears 5.0 times per million words in written English, the 11,198th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce alphabet?
- US /ˈæl.fəˌbɛt/
- US /ˈæl.fə.bɪt/
Alphabet has 3 syllables, split al·pha·bet in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-alphabet.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of alphabet
- alphabets plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- alphabeting participle, present
- alphabeted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does alphabet mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The set of letters used when writing in a language.
The Greek alphabet has only twenty-four letters.
- 2
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.)
- 3
A writing system in which there are letters for the consonant and vowel phonemes. (Contrast e.g. abjad.)
- 4
A typically finite set of distinguishable symbols.
Let L be a regular language over the alphabet #92;Sigma.
- 5
IndianonstandardAn individual letter of an alphabet; an alphabetic character.
The notes are named with the first seven alphabets.
- 6
The simplest rudiments; elements.
- 7
An agent of the FBI, the CIA, or another such government agency.
verb
- 1
rareTo designate by the letters of the alphabet; to arrange alphabetically.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate alphabet?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of alphabet: alpha.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Alphabet in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense an ordered set of letters used in a language:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | alphabet |
| German | Abc, Alphabet |
| Portuguese | abc, abecê, á-bê-cê, alfabeto, abecedário |
| Spanish | alfabeto, abecedario |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.