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

The title page of Andreas Austlid's 1880 Nynorsk alphabet book Abc Bok

Alternative forms

• ABC

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑː.beˈseː/, /ɑː.bəˈseː/

• Audio:

  (file)

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

Etymology 1

From the names of the first three letters of the Norwegian alphabet, A, B and C, used to represent the alphabet as a whole.

Noun

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

1. (rare) the alphabet

   Synonym: alfabet

2. an alphabet book or primer used to teach letters, spelling and reading

   Synonyms: abc-bok, stavebok

   • 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, old German ABCs showed two animals: a donkey and an elephant.

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

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

     The Parents' Campaign Against Samnorsk … encouraged the correction of the Samnorsk forms in schoolchildren'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 as other pupils stumbled through passages in 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 ABC, and filled several exercise books.

3. (figuratively) the basics, fundamentals or elementary principles of a subject

   politikkens abc ― the fundamentals of politics

   kunne sin abc — to know the basics

   kunne mer enn sin abc — to know more than the basics; to understand many things

   • 1898, Fredrik Viller, Gamle Friks diamant, 1911 edition edition, page 66:

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

     It is part of a policeman's ABC that he should suspect everyone as long as the guilty person has not been 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: one sells in a bull market and buys in a bear market.

   • 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 goal came after an attack taken straight from football's ABC” is a typical sentence in newspapers.

4. a book containing elementary knowledge about a particular subject; an introductory textbook or primer

   abc for førerprøven ― an introductory guide to the driving test

   abc i matlaging ― an introductory guide to cooking

   Synonyms: grunnbok, lærebok

Usage notes

• The term is often written with capital letters as ABC. Inflectional endings are attached to the uppercase form with a hyphen: ABC-a, ABC-en, ABC-er and ABC-ene.

Derived terms

• abc-barn (“child who is learning to read”)
• abc-bok (“alphabet book, primer”)
• billed-abc (“illustrated alphabet book”)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English ABC, an initialism of atomic, biological and chemical, corresponding to Norwegian atom- (“atomic”), biologisk (“biological”) and kjemisk (“chemical”).

Adjective

abc

1. (military, weaponry, only used attributively) atomic, biological and chemical, especially with reference to weapons, warfare and protection against weapons of mass destruction

Derived terms

• abc-krig (“atomic, biological and chemical warfare”)
• abc-krigføring (“atomic, biological and chemical warfare”)
• abc-offiser (“ABC defence officer”)
• abc-område (“field of atomic, biological and chemical defence”)
• abc-vern (“protection against atomic, biological and chemical weapons”)
• abc-våpen (“atomic, biological and chemical weapons”)

References

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