C

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C, c. [si:]
The third letter of the modern English alphabet and of the ancient Roman one, orig. corresp. to Greek gamma, Semitic gimel. In early Latin the letter represented both the voiced , esp. in the endings -cious, -cial, -cion (cf. T, T). (iv) ch is in effect a separate consonant: see before the beginning of the ch- words. (v) In adoptions from other langs. C may retain the foreign pronunciation (ceilidh, cello). Pl. cees, C's, Cs.
I. 1. The letter and its sound.
2. The shape of the letter.
C-shaped adjective having a shape or cross-section like the letter C. C-spring a C-shaped spring, used to support the body of a carriage.
II. Symbolical uses.
3. Used to denote serial order; applied e.g. to the third group or section, sheet of a book, etc.
C-DNA Biochemistry a form of double-stranded DNA adopted in the presence of certain solvents, more tightly coiled than B-DNA.
4. Music. (Cap. C.) The first note of the natural major scale (C major), often defined as having a frequency of 256 Hz. Also, the scale of a composition with C as its keynote.
C clef the soprano, alto, or tenor clef. middle C: see MIDDLE adjective.
5. The third hypothetical person or example.
6. Math. (Usu. italic c.) The third known quantity; a constant; spec. (Physics) denoting the velocity of light in a vacuum.
7. (Usu. cap. C.) Designating the third-highest class (of academic marks, population as regards affluence, etc.).
C Special Hist. a member of an unpaid occasional police force in Northern Ireland. C3 the lowest grade of medical fitness in the war of 1914-18; colloq. unfit, worthless.
The roman numeral for 100.
(Cap. C.) Designating a range of international standard paper sizes with a fixed shape and twice the area of the next size, as C0, C1, C2, C3, C4, etc.
(Cap. C.) A computer programming language originally developed for implementing the UNIX operating system.
III.
Abbrevs.: C. = Cape; Catholic; Command Paper (second series, 1870-99); Conservative. C = cancer (in the big C s.v. BIG adjective); (Electricity) capacitance; (Chemistry) carbon; Celsius, centigrade; Channel (as in C4, a television channel); (Particle Physics) charge conjugation; cocaine; (Music) common time; (Physics) coulomb(s); (Biochemistry) Cytosine. c. = (Cricket) caught by; cent(s); centuries; century; chapter; (Meteorology) cloudy; cold; colt; cubic. c. = [Latin] circa about (also ca.). c = (as prefix) centi-; (Particle Physics) = CHARM noun1 4. c/- (Austral. & NZ) = care of. = copyright.