Where does “alphabetic” come from?
Alphabetic comes from French -ique, Ancient Greek ἀλφάβητος, and ultimately Proto-Semitic ʾalp-, the root for the first letter of the alphabet.
alphabetic (English): Of or relating to an alphabet, especially the...
Definitions
- Of or relating to an alphabet, especially the...
Ancestry of “alphabetic”, step by step
alphabetic traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French alphabétique
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | alphabétique | alphabetical |
| 2 | French | alphabet | alphabet set of letters considered as a group |
| 3 | Latin | alphabētum | alphabet |
| 4 | Byzantine Greek | ἀλφάβητον | accusative singular of ἀλφάβητος; alphabet |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | ἀλφάβητος | alphabet |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | ἄλφα | alpha, the name for the first letter Α, α of the... |
| 7 | Phoenician | 𐤀𐤋𐤐 | thousand; bull, ox, head of cattle |
| 8 | Proto-Semitic | *ʔalp- | thousand |
via Latin alphabeticus
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | alphabeticus | — |