- A gold coin, so called from being coined at Byzantium.
See Bezant.
- Of or pertaining to Byzantium.
- A native or inhabitant of Byzantium, now Constantinople;
sometimes, applied to an inhabitant of the modern city of
Constantinople.
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.