Where does “alphabet” come from?

alphabet (French) comes from Latin alphabētum, from Byzantine Greek ἀλφάβητον, from Ancient Greek ἀλφάβητος, from Ancient Greek ἄλφα, from Phoenician 𐤀𐤋𐤐, from Proto-Semitic *ʔalp- — thousand.

alphabet (French): alphabet set of letters considered as a group

Definitions

  1. alphabet set of letters considered as a group

Ancestry of “alphabet”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinalphabētumalphabet
2Byzantine Greekἀλφάβητονaccusative singular of ἀλφάβητος; alphabet
3Ancient Greekἀλφάβητοςalphabet
4Ancient Greekἄλφαalpha, the name for the first letter Α, α of the...
5Phoenician𐤀𐤋𐤐thousand; bull, ox, head of cattle
6Proto-Semitic*ʔalp-thousand

Words derived from “alphabet”

Every word from Proto-Semitic *ʔalp- →Every word from Phoenician 𐤀𐤋𐤐 →Every word from Ancient Greek ἄλφα →