abc

See also: Abc, ABC, A.B.C., and A. B. C.

Translingual

Etymology

Abbreviation of English Ambala Ayta with c as a placeholder.

Symbol

abc

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Ambala Ayta.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Ambala Ayta terms

Danish

Alternative forms

• ABC

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /abeseː/, [æb̥eˈseːˀ]

Noun

abc c (singular definite abc'en, plural indefinite abc'er)

1. ABC (a primer for teaching the Latin alphabet and first elements of reading; the rudiments of any subject)

Inflection

Declension of abc

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	abc	abc'en	abc'er	abc'erne
genitive	abc's	abc'ens	abc'ers	abc'ernes

Dutch

Etymology

After the first three letters of the Latin alphabet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aː.beːˈseː/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

abc n (uncountable, no diminutive)

1. alphabet

   Synonym: alfabet

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.be.se/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Homophones: abaissai, abaissé, abaissée, abaissées, abaissés, abaissez (one pronunciation)

Noun

abc m (invariable)

1. ABC, basics, fundamentals, rudiments

   l'abc des mathématiques ― the rudiments of mathematics

Anagrams

• bac

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English.

Noun

abc m (invariable)

1. ABC, alphabet

   Synonym: abbiccì

Anagrams

• cab

Middle English

Noun

abc

1. alternative form of abece

Norwegian Bokmål

Title page of "Abc Bok", the first alphabet book in Norwegian, by Andreas Austlid.

Alternative forms

• ABC

Etymology 1

The first three letters of the Norwegian alphabet, A, B and C.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑːbɛˈseː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eː
• Hyphenation: a‧b‧c
• Homophone: ABC

Noun

abc f or m (definite singular abc-a or abc-en, indefinite plural abc-er, definite plural abc-ene)

1. an ABC (a primer for teaching the Latin alphabet and first elements of reading and spelling)
   • 1909, Alexander L. Kielland, Breve til hans datter, page 144:

     paa bogstavet E stod i gamle tyske ABC’er 2 dyr: Esel og Elephant

     on the letter E stood in old German ABCs 2 animals: Donkey and Elephant

   • 1989, Ebba Haslund, Med vingehest i manesjen, page 50:

     Foreldreaksjonen mot samnorsk … oppfordret til retting av samnorskformene i skolebarnas ABC’er

     The parental reaction against Samnorsk… called for the correction of Samnorsk forms in school children's ABCs

   • 2004, Fredrik Skagen, En by som ingen ainnen:

     jeg kunne [lese] før jeg begynte i første klasse, og det var kjedelig å høre på når andre elever stotret seg gjennom avsnitt i ABC-en

     I could [read] before I started first grade, and it was boring to listen to other students stumble through sections of the ABC

   • 2008, Karsten Alnæs, Bakenfor alle farger:

     vi hadde lært bokstavene og tallene, lest vår ABC og fylt ut atskillige skrivebøker

     we had learned the letters and numbers, read our ABCs and filled out several exercise books

   Synonyms: abc-bok, stavebok

2. (figuratively) basic knowledge of a subject
   • 1911, Fredrik Viller, Gamle Friks diamant, page 66:

     det hører jo til en politimands ABC, at han bør mistænke alle, saalænge den skyldige ikke er opdaget

     it belongs to a policeman's ABC that he should suspect everyone, as long as the culprit is not discovered

   • 2006, Kjell Ola Dahl, Lindeman & Sachs, page 465:

     det er jo børsens ABC: Man selger i hausse og kjøper i baisse

     it is the stock exchange's ABC: You sell hausse and buy in baisse

   • 2008 July 18, askerfotball.no:

     «scoringen kom etter et angrep som var tatt rett ut av fotballens ABC» er en typisk setning i avisene

     "The score came after an attack that was taken straight out of football's ABC" is a typical phrase in the newspapers

   vitenskapens og politikkens abc

   the ABC's of science and politics

   kunne sin abc ― know your ABCs

   kunne mer enn sin abc ― know more than your ABCs (to understand many things)

3. a textbook that contains elementary knowledge within a topic or subject

   abc for førerprøven ― ABC for the driving test

   abc for matlaging ― ABC for cooking

   Synonyms: grunnbok, lærebok

4. (rare) alphabet (the set of letters used when writing in a language)

Usage notes

Most often capitalised, except for the inflected endings.

Etymology 2

The first letter of each term; atom, biologisk and kjemisk, borrowed from English English atomic, biological and chemical.

Adjective

abc

1. (weaponry) initialism of atom-, biologisk and kjemisk: ("atomic, biological and chemical") the three main categories of weapons of mass destruction.

Derived terms

• abc-barn
• abc-bok
• abc-krig
• abc-krigføring
• abc-offiser
• abc-område
• abc-vern
• abc-våpen
• billed-abc

References

• “abc” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “abc” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• ABC

Noun

abc f (definite singular abc-a, indefinite plural abc-er, definite plural abc-ene)

1. ABC (often in book form)
2. alphabet

Usage notes

Often capitalised, except for the inflected part.

References

• “abc” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

From abecadło.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.bɛˈt͡sɛ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛ
• Syllabification: a‧b‧c

Noun

abc n (indeclinable)

1. 101 (basic knowledge)

   Synonyms: abecadło, alfabet, elementarz, podstawy

Derived terms

adjectives

• abecadlny
• abecadłowy

adverb

• abecadłowo

nouns

• abecadlarz
• abecadlnik
• abecadło
• abecedariusz

Further reading

• “abc”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[1] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “abc”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Noun

abc m (plural abcs)

1. alternative letter-case form of ABC

Further reading

• “abc”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “abc”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Noun

abc m (plural abcs)

1. alternative form of abecé

Further reading

• “abc”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025