Letters

Quite a few let­ters are three-letter words.  From the THREES list:

–AIN–	ayin (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] cfgklmprstvw/s
ARS–	AR, the let­ter R [n] bcegjlmoptvw/e
–BES–	beth (a Hebrew let­ter) [n BESES] o/t
CEE	the let­ter C [n –S] /s
–CHI	a Greek let­ter [n –S] /acdnpst
DEE–	the let­ter D [n –S] /dmprst
EFF–	ef (the let­ter F) [n –S] t/s
EFS–	EF, the let­ter F [n] kr/
ELL–	the let­ter L [n –S] bcdfhjmstwy/s
EMS–	EM, the let­ter M [n] fghmr/
ESS–	the let­ter S [n –ES] cfjlmn/
–ETA–	a Greek let­ter [n –S] bfgmsz/s
ETH–	edh (an Old English let­ter) [n –S] bhmt/s
–FEH–	peh (pe (a Hebrew let­ter)) [n –S] /s
–FES–	FE, a Hebrew let­ter [n] /st
–HEH–	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /s
KAF–	kaph (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
–KAY–	the let­ter K [n KAYS] o/os
–KHI	chi (a Greek let­ter) [n –S] /s
KUE	the let­ter Q [n –S] /s
–MEM–	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /eos
–MUS–	MU, a Greek let­ter [n] ae/ehkst
–NUS–	NU, a Greek let­ter [n] ago/
–PEH–	pe (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
–PHI	a Greek let­ter [n –S] /sz
–PIS–	PI, a Greek let­ter [n] /hos
–PSI	a Greek let­ter [n –S] /s
–RHO	a Greek let­ter [n RHOS] /s
TAU–	a Greek let­ter [n –S] /st
TAV–	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /s
–TET	teth (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] s/hs
VAU	vav (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
VAV	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /s
–VAW	vav (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
VEE	the let­ter V [n –S] /prs
–WAW	vav (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /ls
–WYE	the let­ter Y [n –S] /s
WYN	wynn (the rune for W) [n –S] /dns
–XIS–	XI, a Greek let­ter [n] a/
–YOD–	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /hs
–ZED	the let­ter Z [n –S] /s
ZEE	the let­ter Z [n –S] /s

Letters are a fairly easy way to add use­ful words to your vocab­u­lary.  The English let­ters are par­tic­u­larly easy (the ones that show up on the three-letter list: AR, CEE, DEE, EF or EFF, EL or ELL, EM, ES or ESS, KAY, KUE, VEE, WYE, ZED, and ZEE).  Then there are the Greek let­ters (on the three-letter list: CHI, ETA, KHI or CHI, MU, NU, PHI, PI, PSI, RHO, TAU and XI).  The Hebrew let­ters are a lit­tle harder (and many have a num­ber of dif­fer­ent variants):

–AIN–	ayin (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] cfgklmprstvw/s
ALEF–	aleph (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
ALEPH	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /s
ALIF	an Arabic let­ter [n –S] ck/s
–AYIN	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] lz/s
–BES–	beth (a Hebrew let­ter) [n BESES] o/t
–BETH–	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /s
–CHETH	heth (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
DALEDH	daleth (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
DALETH	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /s
FE	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /dehmnrstuwyz
–FEH–	peh (pe (a Hebrew let­ter)) [n –S] /s
GIMEL	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /s
HE	a male per­son (a human being) [n –S] st/hmnprstwxy
–HEH–	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /s
–HET–	heth (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] kw/hs
–HETH–	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] ck/s
KAF–	kaph (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
KAPH	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /s
KHAF	kaph (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
KHAPH	kaph (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
–KHET	heth (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /hs
–KHETH–	heth (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
KOPH–	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /s
LAMED–	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] bf/hs
LAMEDH–	lamed (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
–MEM–	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /eos
–NUN–	a woman belong­ing to a reli­gious order [n –S] /s
PE	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] ao/acdeghnprstw
–PEH–	pe (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
QOPH	koph (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
RESH–	a Hebrew let­ter [n –ES] f/
SADE–	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] t/s
SADHE	sade (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
SADI–	sade (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] t/s
SAMECH	samek (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
SAMEK–	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /hs
SAMEKH–	samek (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
–SHIN	to climb by grip­ping and pulling alter­nately with the hands and legs [v SHINNED, SHINNING, SHINS] /esy
–SIN–	to com­mit a sin (an offense against reli­gious or moral law) [v SINNED, SINNING, SINS] /eghks
TAV–	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /s
–TET	teth (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] s/hs
–TETH–	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /s
–TSADE	sade (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
–TSADI	sade (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
VAU	vav (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
VAV	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /s
–VAW	vav (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
–WAW	vav (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /ls
–YOD–	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /hs
YODH–	yod (a Hebrew let­ter) [n –S] /s
–ZAYIN	a Hebrew let­ter [n –S] /s

Some of these let­ters are English words (see def­i­n­i­tions above).  This list may look intim­i­dat­ing.  It’s eas­ier if you group the words by let­ter.  For exam­ple, VAU, VAV, VAW, WAW are four vari­ants of the same let­ter.  ALEF, ALEPH, ALIF are the same.  Here are the Hebrew let­ters grouped by let­ter (and listed alphabetically):

ALEF, ALEPH, ALIF
BES, BETH
GIMEL
DALEDH, DALETH
HE, HEH
VAU, VAV, VAW, WAW
ZAYIN
CHETH, HET, HETH, KHET, KHETH
TET, TETH
YOD, YODH
CAPH, KAF, KAPH, KHAF, KHAPH
LAMED, LAMEDH
MEM
NUN
SAMECH, SAMEK, SAMEKH
AIN, AYIN
FE, FEH, PE, PEH
SADE, SADHE, SADI, TSADE, TSADI
KOPH, QOPH
RESH
SIN
SHIN
TAV

Here is the com­plete Greek alphabet:

ALPHA
BETA
GAMMA
DELTA
EPSILON
ZETA
ETA
THETA
IOTA
KAPPA
LAMBDA
MU
NU
XI
OMICRON
PI
RHO
SIGMA
TAU
UPSILON
PHI
CHI
PSI
OMEGA

Here is the com­plete English alphabet:

BEE
CEE
DEE
EF, EFF
GEE
AITCH
JAY
KAY
EL, ELL
EM
EN
PEE
KUE
AR
ES, ESS
TEE
VEE
EX
WYE
ZED, ZEE, IZZARD

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