Alephs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A symbol used to denote the first transfinite cardinal number in set theory, representing a size larger than any finite quantity
2. Referring to the initial letter of the Hebrew alphabet, it often signifies a concept of unity or oneness in various mystical traditions
3. In mathematics, it denotes the set of all cardinal numbers that can be expressed through a specific infinite process or structure

Etymology: The plural of "aleph," the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which English borrowed directly from Hebrew "álef." The Hebrew name is the same word that gave Greek its "alpha," and "alif," the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, is a relative of it. Because all three alphabets descend from the same Phoenician script, these three names are doublets: separate borrowings from one ancestral word, each shaped by the language that adopted it.

Synonyms: letters, characters, symbols, alphabets