"ABCs" meaning in English

See ABCs in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Head templates: {{head|en|noun form}} ABCs
  1. plural of ABC Tags: form-of, plural Form of: ABC
    Sense id: en-ABCs-en-noun-DEmE-lIn Categories (other): English pluralia tantum, Pages with 2 entries, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English pluralia tantum: 25 20 6 24 25 Disambiguation of Pages with 2 entries: 42 9 7 13 29 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 67 5 4 7 16

Noun

Head templates: {{en-noun|p}} ABCs pl (plural only)
  1. (US, usually plural only, countable) The alphabet. Tags: US, countable, plural, plural-only, usually
    Sense id: en-ABCs-en-noun-~bAfhhSy Categories (other): American English, English pluralia tantum, English pluralia tantum Disambiguation of English pluralia tantum: 25 20 6 24 25
  2. (obsolete, poetry) A type of poem in which the lines start with the letters of the alphabet in order. Tags: obsolete, plural, plural-only
    Sense id: en-ABCs-en-noun-tN4D5hvx Categories (other): Poetry Topics: communications, journalism, literature, media, poetry, publishing, writing
  3. (plural only) Letters; writing; the skill of literacy. Tags: plural, plural-only
    Sense id: en-ABCs-en-noun-T719HA8~ Categories (other): English pluralia tantum, English pluralia tantum Disambiguation of English pluralia tantum: 25 20 6 24 25
  4. The alphabet, especially the English alphabet. Tags: plural, plural-only
    Sense id: en-ABCs-en-noun-Nk3ehsZC Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English pluralia tantum Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 30 9 10 8 44 Disambiguation of English pluralia tantum: 25 20 6 24 25
{
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "25 20 6 24 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English pluralia tantum",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "42 9 7 13 29",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "67 5 4 7 16",
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        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "ABC"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "plural of ABC"
      ],
      "id": "en-ABCs-en-noun-DEmE-lIn",
      "links": [
        [
          "ABC",
          "ABC#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "ABCs"
}

{
  "head_templates": [
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  "lang_code": "en",
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  "senses": [
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      "attestations": [
        {
          "date": "First attested from around (1150 to 1350).",
          "references": []
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English pluralia tantum",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Do you know your ABC? (U.S.: Do you know your ABCs?)"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The alphabet."
      ],
      "id": "en-ABCs-en-noun-~bAfhhSy",
      "links": [
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        ],
        [
          "The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles",
          "w:Shorter Oxford English Dictionary"
        ],
        [
          "Oxford University Press",
          "w:Oxford University Press"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, usually plural only, countable) The alphabet."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "countable",
        "plural",
        "plural-only",
        "usually"
      ]
    },
    {
      "attestations": [
        {
          "date": "Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the mid 17ᵗʰ century.",
          "references": []
        }
      ],
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        "A type of poem in which the lines start with the letters of the alphabet in order."
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        "(obsolete, poetry) A type of poem in which the lines start with the letters of the alphabet in order."
      ],
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      ],
      "topics": [
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        "media",
        "poetry",
        "publishing",
        "writing"
      ]
    },
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
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              25,
              29
            ]
          ],
          "text": "He was busy learning his ABCs.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Letters; writing; the skill of literacy."
      ],
      "id": "en-ABCs-en-noun-T719HA8~",
      "links": [
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        ],
        [
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(plural only) Letters; writing; the skill of literacy."
      ],
      "tags": [
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        "plural-only"
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    },
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          "_dis": "30 9 10 8 44",
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English pluralia tantum",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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      "glosses": [
        "The alphabet, especially the English alphabet."
      ],
      "id": "en-ABCs-en-noun-Nk3ehsZC",
      "links": [
        [
          "alphabet",
          "alphabet"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
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        "plural-only"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "ABCs"
}
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    "English non-lemma forms",
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    "English nouns",
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    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "ABC"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "plural of ABC"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "ABC",
          "ABC#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
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        "plural"
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  ],
  "word": "ABCs"
}

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    "Pages with entries"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "attestations": [
        {
          "date": "First attested from around (1150 to 1350).",
          "references": []
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English pluralia tantum"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Do you know your ABC? (U.S.: Do you know your ABCs?)"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The alphabet."
      ],
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        [
          "alphabet",
          "alphabet"
        ],
        [
          "The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles",
          "w:Shorter Oxford English Dictionary"
        ],
        [
          "Oxford University Press",
          "w:Oxford University Press"
        ]
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        "(US, usually plural only, countable) The alphabet."
      ],
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        "countable",
        "plural",
        "plural-only",
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      ]
    },
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      "attestations": [
        {
          "date": "Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the mid 17ᵗʰ century.",
          "references": []
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English terms with obsolete senses",
        "en:Poetry"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A type of poem in which the lines start with the letters of the alphabet in order."
      ],
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          "poetry",
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        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(obsolete, poetry) A type of poem in which the lines start with the letters of the alphabet in order."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete",
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "communications",
        "journalism",
        "literature",
        "media",
        "poetry",
        "publishing",
        "writing"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English pluralia tantum",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
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              25,
              29
            ]
          ],
          "text": "He was busy learning his ABCs.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Letters; writing; the skill of literacy."
      ],
      "links": [
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          "Letters",
          "letter"
        ],
        [
          "writing",
          "writing"
        ],
        [
          "literacy",
          "literacy"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(plural only) Letters; writing; the skill of literacy."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "The alphabet, especially the English alphabet."
      ],
      "links": [
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          "alphabet",
          "alphabet"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "ABCs"
}

Download raw JSONL data for ABCs meaning in English (2.7kB)

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  "called_from": "form_description/20250107",
  "msg": "Form tags without form: desc='plural plural-only', tagsets=[('plural', 'plural-only')]",
  "path": [
    "ABCs"
  ],
  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "noun",
  "title": "ABCs",
  "trace": ""
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-01-13 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-01-01 using wiktextract (96027d6 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.