Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


C

C

.
(sē)
1.
C is the third letter of the English alphabet. It is from the Latin letter C, which in old Latin represented the sounds of k, and g (in go); its original value being the latter. In Anglo-Saxon words, or Old English before the Norman Conquest, it always has the sound of k. The Latin C was the same letter as the Greek Γ, γ, and came from the Greek alphabet. The Greeks got it from the Phœnicians. The English name of C is from the Latin name ce, and was derived, probably, through the French. Etymologically C is related to g, h, k, q, s (and other sibilant sounds). Examples of these relations are in L. acutus, E. acute, ague; E. acrid, eager, vinegar; L. cornu, E. horn; E. cat, kitten; E. coy, quiet; L. circare, OF. cerchier, E. search.
See Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 221-228.
2.
(Mus.)
(a)
The keynote of the normal or “natural” scale, which has neither flats nor sharps in its signature; also, the third note of the relative minor scale of the same.
(b)
C after the clef is the mark of common time, in which each measure is a semibreve (four fourths or crotchets); for alla breve time it is written [GREEK].
(c)
The “C clef,” a modification of the letter C, placed on any line of the staff, shows that line to be middle C.
3.
As a numeral, C stands for Latin
centum
or 100, CC for 200, etc.
C spring
,
a spring in the form of the letter C.

Webster 1828 Edition


C

C

, the third letter in the English alphabet, and the second articulation or consonant, is a palatal, nearly corresponding in sound with the Greek x, kappa, and with the Hebrew, caph. It bears a middle place in pronunciation, between the aspirate, and the palatal. It is a Roman character, borrowed from the Gr.x, or from the oriental, which was used in languages written from right to left, and when inverted and the corners rounded, becomes C. In the old Etruscan, it was written with the corners rounded, but not inverted; in Arcadian, C, as now written. That its sound in Latin was the same, or nearly the same, as that of kappa, may be known from the fact, that the Greeks, while the Latin was a living language, wrote kappa for the Roman C. Perhaps the same character may be the basis of the Arabic.
As an abbreviature, C stands for Caius, Carolus, Caesar, condemno, &c., and CC for consulibus. As a numeral C stands for 100; CC for 200; &c. In music, C after the cliff, is the mark of common time.
In English, C has two sounds, or rather it represents two very different articulations of the organs; one close, like K, which occurs before a, o and u; the other, a sibilant, precisely like s, which occurs before E, I and Y. The former is distinguished in this vocabulary by C, which may be called ke. In Russ. C is precisely the English s, as it was in the old Greek alphabet.

Definition 2024


C

C


C U+0043, C
LATIN CAPITAL LETTER C
B
[U+0042]
Basic Latin D
[U+0044]
See also: c and Appendix:Variations of "c"

Translingual

Etymology 1

From Etruscan 𐌂 (C), from Greek Γ (G, Gamma), from Phoenician 𐤂 (G, gimmel).

Letter

C upper case (lower case c)

  1. The third letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

See also

Etymology 2

A standardization of Ɔ and C because the latter happens to be an abbreviation of Latin centum (hundred), from abbreviation of ƆIC, an alternate form of >I<, from tally stick markings resembling Ж (a superimposed X and I), from the practice of designating each tenth X notch with an extra cut.

Alternative forms

Numeral

C (upper case Roman numeral, lower case c)

  1. (mathematics) cardinal number one hundred (100).
Usage notes

With a bar over the numeral, i.e., as C, it represents one hundred thousand.

Derived terms
See also
  • Lesser roman numeral symbol: L (50)
  • Greater roman numeral symbol: D (500)
  • Roman numerals

Etymology 3

  • (element symbol, carbon): abbreviation
  • (metrology, coulomb): abbreviation
  • (computing, hexadecimal 12): From its position as the twelfth element of the series {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F}

Symbol

C

  1. (chemistry) Carbon.
  2. (metrology) Symbol for the coulomb, an SI unit of electric charge.
  3. (computing, hexadecimal) The digit for 12.
    0x0000000C
  4. (genetics) IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation for any cytosine
  5. (biochemistry) IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation for cysteine
  6. (mathematics) differentiable class
    C1 functions are differentiable once, and C2 functions are twice differentiable
  7. (mathematics) denotes the constant of integration
  8. (physics) capacitance

See also

Other representations of C:


English

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA(key): /siː/
  • Rhymes: -iː
  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /s/, /k/, /tʃ/, /ks/, /ʃ/, ...
  • Homophones: C, cee, sea, see

Letter

C (upper case, lower case c, plural Cs or C's)

  1. The third letter of the English alphabet, called cee and written in the Latin script.
See also

Number

C (upper case, lower case c)

  1. The ordinal number third, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called cee and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

Symbol

C

  1. A standard size of dry cell battery between A and D.
  2. (music) Guitar chord – C – Played 0 1 0 2 3 0.
  3. (entomology) 1-letter abbreviation for costa

Noun

C (plural Cs)

  1. (slang) $100; a c-note.
  2. (music) The first note in the C chromatic and major scales.
  3. An academic grade better than a D and worse than a B.
  4. (Unicode) Canonical Decomposition, followed by Canonical Composition
  5. (slang) Cocaine.
    • 1945, William Burroughs, letter, 24 Jul 1945:
      Where did you secure the C? My own supply is utterly depleted.
  6. (stock symbol) Symbol for the company Citigroup Inc on the NYSE
See also
Derived terms
References

Proper noun

C

  1. A particular high-level programming language from which many others are derived.
    • 1995, Gary Wolf, "The Curse of Xanadu", Wired Magazine
      The PDP-11, from the Digital Equipment Corporation, was a coveted machine. It was the original computer to run a new programming language called C, which was on its way to becoming the hackers' standard. Gregory, as it happened, didn't have any spare PDP-11s at his disposal. But the repairman took the opportunity to question some of Nelson's blithe predictions in Computer Lib, and Nelson, in response, unleashed his glib and bitter tirade against the conservative ignoramuses in the computer business.
  2. (Britain) Head of the Secret Intelligence Service.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

See also


American Sign Language

Etymology

From the French Sign Language sign for the letter C.

Production

This one-handed ASL sign is produced as follows:

  • Posture the dominant hand in the “C” shape .

Letter

(Stokoe C)

  1. The letter C

See also

  • Index:American Sign Language/C

Azeri

Letter

C upper case (lower case c)

  1. The third letter of the Azeri alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also


Catalan

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /se/

Letter

C (upper case, lower case c)

  1. The third letter of the Catalan alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also


Dutch

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /s/, /k/, /x/, /ks/, /ʃ/, ...
  • (letter name): IPA(key): /seː/

Letter

C (upper case, lower case c)

  1. The third letter of the Dutch alphabet, called cee and written in the Latin script.

See also


Esperanto

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA(key): /tso/
  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /ts/

Letter

C (upper case, lower case c)

  1. The third letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called co and written in the Latin script.

See also


Finnish

Letter

C (upper case, lower case c)

  1. The third letter of the Finnish alphabet, called see and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

  • Used only in loanwords. In more established loanwords replaced with k or s.

See also

Abbreviation

C

  1. cum laude approbatur

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /tseː/

Letter

C (upper case, lower case c)

  1. The third letter of the German alphabet, written in the Latin script.

German Sign Language

Etymology

Compare the French and American Sign Language signs for the letter C, which are identical.

Production

This one-handed GSL sign is produced as follows:

  • Posture the dominant hand in the “C” shape.

Letter

  1. the letter C

Ido

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ts/

Letter

C (lower case c)

  1. The third letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also


Italian

Pronunciation

  • (name of letter) IPA(key): /tʃi/
  • Homophone: ci
  • (phoneme) IPA(key): /k/
  • (phoneme, before "e" or "i") IPA(key): /tʃ/

Letter

C m, f (invariable, lower case c)

  1. The third letter of the Italian alphabet, called ci and written in the Latin script.

See also


Latin

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme): (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /k/
  • IPA(key): /g/

Letter

C (upper case, lower case c)

  1. The third letter of the Latin alphabet, written in the Latin script.

References


Latvian

Etymology

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ts]

Letter

C

C (upper case, lower case c)

  1. The fourth letter of the Latvian alphabet, called and written in the Latin script.

See also


Malay

Pronunciation

  • (Name of letter) IPA(key): [si]
  • (Phoneme) IPA(key): [t͡ʃ]

Letter

C

  1. The third letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also


Portuguese

Letter

C (upper case, lower case c)

  1. The third letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also


Romanian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /tʃe/

Letter

C (upper case, lower case c)

  1. The fifth letter of the Romanian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

When followed by the letters i or e, this letter represents the phoneme /tʃ/, as in cel /tʃel/ (the) and citesc /tʃi'tesk/ (I read). When followed by "hi" or "he" (chi & che) and in all other cases, it represents /k/.

See also


Saanich

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /k̟/

Letter

C

  1. The fifth letter of the Saanich alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also


Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA(key): /t͡s/

Letter

C (lower case c)

  1. The fourth letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also


Slovene

Letter

C (upper case, lower case c)

  1. The third letter of the Slovene alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also


Somali

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /ʕ/
  • (letter name): IPA(key): /ʕæɪ̯n/

Letter

C upper case (lower case c)

  1. The twelfth letter of the Somali alphabet, called cayn and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

  1. The twelfth letter of the Somali alphabet, which follows Arabic abjad order. It is preceded by DH and followed by G.

See also


Spanish

Letter

C (upper case, lower case c)

  1. The third letter of the Spanish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

C m

  1. (chess) knight

Turkish

Letter

C (upper case, lower case c)

  1. The third letter of the Turkish alphabet, called ce and written in the Latin script.

See also


Vietnamese

Pronunciation

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [s̪e˧˧/, /kəːɰ˨˩]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [s̪ej˧˧/, /kəːɰ˧˧]
  • (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [s̪ej˧˥/, /kəːɰ˨˩]
  • Phonetic: xê, cờ

Letter

C (upper case, lower case c)

  1. The fifth letter of the Vietnamese alphabet, called and written in the Latin script.

See also

c

c


c U+0063, &#99;
LATIN SMALL LETTER C
b
[U+0062]
Basic Latin d
[U+0064]
See also: C and Appendix:Variations of "c"

Translingual

Etymology 1

Modification of upper case letter C, from Etruscan 𐌂 (C), from Greek Γ (G, Gamma), from Phoenician 𐤂 (G, gimmel).

Pronunciation

  • (IPA symbol)

Letter

c lower case (upper case C)

  1. The third letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.
Usage notes
  • Not to be confused with ϲ (ϲ) (the lunate sigma).
  • In many languages, the letter c represents both a “hard” /k/ sound and a “soft” sound (/s/, /ts/, /tʃ/, or /θ/), based on the following letter.
  • In a number of languages, it is used only for the /tʃ/ sound.
  • In many languages, it occurs frequently in the digraph with ch.
  • In some romanization systems of non-Latin scripts, it represents /tʃ/, /θ/, or /tsʰ/.
See also

Symbol

c

  1. (IPA) voiceless palatal plosive.

Etymology 2

Lower case form of upper case roman numeral C, a standardization of Ɔ and C because the latter happens to be an abbreviation of Latin centum (hundred), from abbreviation of ƆIC, an alternate form of >I<, from tally stick markings resembling Ж (a superimposed X and I), from the practice of designating each tenth X notch with an extra cut.

Alternative forms

Numeral

c (lower case Roman numeral, upper case C)

  1. cardinal number one hundred (100).
Usage notes

With a bar over the numeral, i.e., as c, it represents one hundred thousand.

Derived terms
See also
  • Lesser roman numeral symbol: l (50)
  • Greater roman numeral symbol: d (500)
  • Roman numerals

Etymology 3

From Latin celeritās (speed).

Symbol

c

  1. (physics) The speed of light, 2.99792458 × 108 m/s.

Etymology 4

You can help Wiktionary by providing a proper etymology.

Symbol

c

  1. (mathematics) The space of convergent sequences.

See also

Other representations of C:


English

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA(key): /siː/ (usually spelled cee)
  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /k/, /s/, ...

Letter

c (lower case, upper case C, plural c's)

  1. The third letter of the English alphabet, called cee and written in the Latin script.

See also

Derived terms

Number

c (lower case, upper case C)

  1. The ordinal number third, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called cee and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

Various abbreviations

Adverb

c

  1. Alternative form of c.

Etymology 3

Noun

c (plural cs or c's)

  1. (music) The middle tone in either one of the sets of seven white keys on a keyboard or a set of seven strings on a stringed instrument.

Etymology 4

Verb

c

  1. (Internet slang, text messaging) Abbreviation of see.

Azeri

Letter

c lower case (upper case C)

  1. The third letter of the Azeri alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also


Catalan

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /se/

Letter

c (lower case, upper case C)

  1. The third letter of the Catalan alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also


Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -eː
  • (letter name): IPA(key): /seː/

Letter

c (lower case, upper case C)

  1. The third letter of the Dutch alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also


Esperanto

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA(key): /tso/
  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /ts/

Letter

c (lower case, upper case C)

  1. The third letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called co and written in the Latin script.

See also


Fijian

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA(key): /ð/

Letter

c (upper case C)

  1. The third letter of the Fijian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also


French

Letter

c (lower case, upper case C)

  1. The third letter of the French alphabet, written in the Latin script.
    • 1837, Louis Viardot, L’Ingénieux Hidalgo Don Quichotte de la Manchefr.Wikisource, translation of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Chapter I:
      Avec ces propos et d’autres semblables, le pauvre gentilhomme perdait le jugement. Il passait les nuits et se donnait la torture pour les comprendre, pour les approfondir, pour leur tirer le sens des entrailles, ce qu’Aristote lui-même n’aurait pu faire, s’il fût ressuscité tout exprès pour cela.
      With these passages and other similar ones, the poor gentleman lost his judgement. He spent his nights and tortured himself to understand them, to consider them more deeply, to take from them their deepest meaning, which Aristotle himself would not have been able to do, had he been resurrected for that very purpose.

Abbreviation

c

  1. (text messaging) Informal spelling of c'est
    C nul ici sans George
    It's rubbish here without George

Hungarian

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme): IPA(key): [ˈt͡s]
  • (letter name): IPA(key): [ˈt͡seː]

Letter

c (lower case, upper case C)

  1. The fourth letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called and written in the Latin script.

See also


Ido

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ts/

Letter

c (upper case C)

  1. The third letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also


Interlingua

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA(key): /tse/
  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /k/ before 'a'/'o'/'u', /ts/ before 'i'/'e'/'y'

Letter

c (lower case, upper case C)

  1. The third letter of the Interlingua alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

  • Previous letter: b
  • Next letter: d

Italian

Noun

c m, f (invariable)

  1. See under C

Latvian

Etymology

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ts]

Letter

C

c (lower case, upper case C)

  1. The fourth letter of the Latvian alphabet, called and written in the Latin script.

See also


Malay

Letter

c (lower case, upper case C)

  1. The third letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also


Norwegian

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA(key): /seː/
  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /k/, /s/
  • Homophone: se

Letter

c

  1. The 3rd letter of the Norwegian alphabet.

Usage notes

  • Only used in words of foreign origin, usually English. Even rare in loanwords, as this letter does not represent a sound of its own.
  • Still kept in many Christian names, therefore Caroline and Karoline are both acceptable spellings.

Portuguese

Letter

c (lower case, upper case C)

  1. The third letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Etymology 2

From , short form of você (you).

Pronoun

c

  1. (Internet slang) you (singular)

Synonyms


Romanian

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA(key): /tʃe/
  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /k/ and IPA(key): /tʃ/

Letter

c (lower case, upper case C)

  1. The fifth letter of the Romanian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

See C for pronunciation notes

See also


Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

  • (uppercase): C

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA(key): /ts/

Letter

c (Cyrillic spelling ц)

  1. The 3rd letter of the Serbo-Croatian Latin alphabet (gajica), preceded by b and followed by č.


Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA(key): /k/, /s/, /θ/
  • (letter name) IPA(key): /se/, /θe/

Letter

c (upper case C)

  1. The fourth letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also


Somali

Letter

c lower case (upper case C)

  1. The twelfth letter of the Somali alphabet, called cayn and written in the Latin script.

See also


Spanish

Letter

c (lower case, upper case C)

  1. The third letter of the Spanish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Swedish

Abbreviation

c

  1. Centre Party; Abbreviation of Centerpartiet.

Turkish

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA(key): /dʒɛː/
  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /dʒ/

Letter

c (lower case, upper case C)

  1. The third letter of the Turkish alphabet, called ce and written in the Latin script.

See also