C


() 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 /, /, and came from the Greek alphabet. The Greeks got it from the Ph/nicians. 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.


() 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.


() 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 /.


() The "C clef," a modification of the letter C, placed on any line of the staff, shows that line to be middle C.


() As a numeral, C stands for Latin centum or 100, CC for 200, etc.



Similar Words:

, a , or an . PCP. It is presumably an older spelling of scanned. --2.   , a , or an . PCP. It is presumably an older spelling of scanned. --2. Specifically (Pros.), to go through with, as a verse, marking and distinguishing the feet of which it is composed; to show, in reading, the metrical structure of; to recite metrically   -ance   -ances   -ancies   -ancy   -arch   -cae   -cales   -cated