Alpaca to Alternative
Alpaca
(Al*pac"a) n. [Sp. alpaca, fr. the original Peruvian name of the animal. Cf. Paco.]
1. (Zoöl.) An animal of Peru (Lama paco), having long, fine, wooly hair, supposed by some to be a
domesticated variety of the llama.
2. Wool of the alpaca.
3. A thin kind of cloth made of the wooly hair of the alpaca, often mixed with silk or with cotton.
Alpen
(Al"pen) a. Of or pertaining to the Alps. [R.] "The Alpen snow." J. Fletcher.
Alpenstock
(||Al"pen*stock`) n. [G.; Alp, gen. pl. Alpen + stock stick.] A long staff, pointed with iron,
used in climbing the Alps. Cheever.
Alpestrine
(Al*pes"trine) a. [L. Alpestris.] Pertaining to the Alps, or other high mountains; as, Alpestrine
diseases, etc.
Alpha
(Al"pha) n. [L. alpha, Gr. 'a`lfa, from Heb. aleph, name of the first letter in the alphabet, also
meaning ox.] The first letter in the Greek alphabet, answering to A, and hence used to denote the
beginning.
In am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Rev. xxii. 13.
Formerly used also denote the chief; as, Plato was the alpha of the wits.
In cataloguing stars, the brightest star of a constellation in designated by Alpha (&alpha); as, &alpha Lyræ.
Alphabet
(Al"pha*bet) n. [L. alphabetum, fr. Gr. + the first two Greek letters; Heb. aleph and beth: cf.
F. alphabet.]
1. The letters of a language arranged in the customary order; the series of letters or signs which form
the elements of written language.
2. The simplest rudiments; elements.
The very alphabet of our law.
Macaulay.
Deaf and dumb alphabet. See Dactylology.
Alphabet
(Al"pha*bet), v. t. To designate by the letters of the alphabet; to arrange alphabetically. [R.]
Alphabetarian
(Al`pha*bet*a"ri*an) n. A learner of the alphabet; an abecedarian. Abp. Sancroft.
Alphabetic
(Al`pha*bet"ic Al`pha*bet"ic*al) a. [Cf. F. alphabétique.]
1. Pertaining to, furnished with, expressed by, or in the order of, the letters of the alphabet; as, alphabetic
characters, writing, languages, arrangement.
2. Literal. [Obs.] "Alphabetical servility." Milton.
Alphabetically
(Al`pha*bet"ic*al*ly), adv. In an alphabetic manner; in the customary order of the letters.
Alphabetics
(Al`pha*bet"ics) n. The science of representing spoken sounds by letters.
Alphabetism
(Al"pha*bet*ism) n. The expression of spoken sounds by an alphabet. Encyc. Brit.
Alphabetize
(Al"pha*bet*ize) v. t.
