Part 344

<hw>Alp</hw>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>A bullfinch.</def>

<i>Rom. of R.</i>

<h1>Alpaca</h1> <Xpage=42>

<hw>Al*pac"a</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[Sp. <ets>alpaca</ets>, fr. the original Peruvian name of the animal. Cf. <er>Paco</er>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <fld>(Zo\'94l.)</fld> <def>An animal of Peru <spn>(Lama paco)</spn>, having long, fine, wooly hair, supposed by some to be a domesticated variety of the llama.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Wool of the alpaca.</def>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>A thin kind of cloth made of the wooly hair of the alpaca, often mixed with silk or with cotton.</def>

<h1>Alpen</h1> <Xpage=42>

<hw>Al"pen</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>Of or pertaining to the Alps.</def> <mark>[R.]</mark> "The <i>Alpen</i> snow."

<i>J. Fletcher.</i>

<h1>Alpenstock</h1> <Xpage=42>

<hw>Al"pen*stock`</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[G.; <ets>Alp</ets>, gen. pl. <ets>Alpen + stock</ets> stick.]</ety> <def>A long staff, pointed with iron, used in climbing the Alps.</def>

<i>Cheever.</i>

<h1>Alpestrine</h1> <Xpage=42>

<hw>Al*pes"trine</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>Alpestris</ets>.]</ety> <def>Pertaining to the Alps, or other high mountains; <as>as, <ex>Alpestrine</ex> diseases, etc.</as></def>

<h1>Alpha</h1> <Xpage=42>

<hw>Al"pha</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>alpha</ets>, Gr. <grk>'a`lfa</grk>, from Heb. <ets>\'beleph</ets>, name of the first letter in the alphabet, also meaning <ets>ox</ets>.]</ety> <def>The first letter in the Greek alphabet, answering to A, and hence used to denote the <i>beginning</i>.</def>

<blockquote>In am <b>Alpha</b> and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. <i>Rev. xxii. 13.</i></blockquote>

<note>Formerly used also denote the <it>chief</it>; as, Plato was the <i>alpha</i> of the wits.</note>

<note>&hand; In cataloguing stars, the brightest star of a constellation in designated by Alpha (&alpha;); as, &alpha; Lyr\'91.</note>

<h1>Alphabet</h1> <Xpage=42>

<hw>Al"pha*bet</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>alphabetum</ets>, fr. Gr. <?/ + <?/, the first two Greek letters; Heb. <ets>\'beleph</ets> and <ets>beth</ets>: cf. F. <ets>alphabet</ets>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>The letters of a language arranged in the customary order; the series of letters or signs which form the elements of written language.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>The simplest rudiments; elements.</def>

<blockquote>The very <b>alphabet</b> of our law. <i>Macaulay.</i></blockquote>

<cs><col>Deaf and dumb alphabet</col>. <cd>See <er>Dactylology</er>.</cd></cs>

<h1>Alphabet</h1> <Xpage=42>

<hw>Al"pha*bet</hw>, <tt>v. t.</tt> <def>To designate by the letters of the alphabet; to arrange alphabetically.</def> <mark>[R.]</mark>

<h1>Alphabetarian</h1> <Xpage=42>

<hw>Al`pha*bet*a"ri*an</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>A learner of the alphabet; an abecedarian.</def>