Definition of "alphabet" []

• The letters of a language, arranged in the order fixed by custom. (noun)
• A system of characters or symbols representing sounds or things. (noun)
• A set of basic parts or elements: "genetic markers . . . that contain repeated sequences of the DNA alphabet” ( Sandra Blakeslee). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The term alphabet is explained by the fact that the alphabetical name of the note was attached to each slide."
• "Draftsman Scott Teplin has released a series of limited color prints of an imaginary city where every letter of the alphabet is an architectural drawing of a building."
• "As McLimans says in the introduction, In a way, this alphabet is a return to picture writing."