the third letter of the Roman alphabet, was originally identical with the Greek Gamma, Γ, and Semitic Gimel, whence it derived its form through the successive types 𝝘, 〈, Ｃ. The Greek Kappa, Κ, being from the first little used by the Romans, Ⅽ functioned in earlier Latin both as (g) and (k), the latter sound being the more frequent came to be viewed as the more appropriate to C, and about 300–230 B.C., a modified character, [symbol] or Ｇ, was introduced for the (g) sound, and Ⅽ itself retained for the (k) sound. Hence, in the classical period and after, Ｇ was treated as the phonetic representative of Gamma, and Ⅽ as the equivalent of Kappa, in the transliteration of Greek words into Roman spelling, as in ΚΑΔΜΟΣ, ΚΥΡΟΣ, ΦΩΚΙΣ, in Roman letters CADMVS, CYRVS, PHOCIS.
When the Roman alphabet was introduced into Britain, C had only the sound (k); and this value of the letter has been retained by all the insular Celts: in Welsh, Irish, Gaelic, C, c, is still only = (k). The Old English or ‘Anglo-Saxon’ writing was learned from the Celts, apparently of Ireland; hence C, c, in Old English, was also originally = (k): the words kin, break, broken, thick, seek, were in OE. written cyn, brecan, brocen, picc, séoc. But during the course of the OE. period, the k-sound before e and i became palatalized, and had by the 10th c. advanced nearly or quite to the sound of (tſ), though still written c, as in cir(i)ce, wrecc(e)a. On the continent, meanwhile, a similar phonetic change had also been going on. Original Latin C (= k) before e, i, had by palatalization advanced in Italy to the sound of (tſ), and in France still further to that of (ts). Yet for these new sounds the old character C, c, was still retained before e and i, the letter thus acquiring two distinct values. Moreover the sound (k) also occurred in French before e and i (chiefly as a representative of Latin qu); this was now expressed in Northern French by the Greek letter Κ, κ; so that the sound (k) had two symbols, k and c, while the symbol c had two sounds (k and ts). These French inconsistencies as to C and K were, after the Norman Conquest, applied to the writing of English, which caused a considerable re-spelling of the Old English words. Thus while OE. candel, clif, corn, crop, cú, remained unchanged, Cent, cǽʓ (céʓ), cyng, brece, séoce, were now (without any change of sound) spelt Kent, keȝ, kyng, breke, seoke; even cniht was subsequently spelt kniht, knight, and þic, þice, became thik, thikk, thick. The OE. cw- was also at length (very unnecessarily) displaced by the Fr. qw, qu, so that the OE. cwén, cwic, became ME. qwen, quen, qwik, quik, now queen, quick. The sound (tſ) to which OE. palatalized c had advanced, also occurred in French, chiefly (in Central French) from Latin c before a. In French it was represented by ch, as in champ, cher:—L. camp-um, cār-um; and this spelling was now introduced into English: the Hatton Gospels, written about 1160, have in Matt. i–iii, child, chyld, riche, mychel, for the cild, rice, mycel, of the OE. version whence they were copied: this was, phonetically, an improvement. In these cases, the OE. c gave place to k, qu, ch; but, on the other hand, c in its new value of (ts) came in largely in Fr. words like processiun, emperice, grace, and was also substituted for ts in a few OE. words, as miltse, bletsien, in early ME. milce, blecien. By the end of the 13th c. both in France and England, this sound (ts) was reduced to simple (s); and from that date c before e, i, y, has been, phonetically, a duplicate or subsidiary letter to s; used either for ‘etymological’ reasons, as in lance, cent, or (in defiance of etymology) to avoid the ambiguity due to the ‘etymological’ use of s for (z), as in ace, mice, once, pence, defence.
Thus, on the plea of showing the etymology, we write advise, devise, instead of advize, devize, which obliges us to write advice, device, dice, ice, mice, trice, etc., in defiance of the etymology; bad example has extended this to hence, pence, defence, etc., where there is no plea whatever for c. Former generations also wrote sence for sense.
Hence, in modern English, C has (1) the ‘hard’ sound (k) before a, o, u, before a consonant (except h), and when final, as in cab, cot, cut, claw, crow, acme, cycle, sac, tic, epic; (2) before e, i, y, it has the ‘soft’ sound (s). In all words from Old English or Old French, final c is avoided: the (k) sound being written k or ck, as in beak, meek, oak, book, bark, balk, bank, pack, peck, pick, rock. This is probably due to the claims of derivatives like meeker, oaken, barking, rocky, where c could not be used. Final c however is written in modern words from Latin, Greek, or other languages, and (of late) in the ending -ic, as in sac, tic, epic, critic, music, pic-nic. In the rare cases in which this c is followed in inflexion by e or i, it is necessary to change it to ck, as in physicking, mimicking, frolicking, trafficker, pic-nicker. When the (s) sound is final, it must be written -ce, as in trace, ice, thrice, and this final e must be retained in composition before a, o, u, as in trace-able, peace-able. (3) Ci (rarely ce) preceding another vowel has frequently the sound of (ſ), esp. in the endings -cious, -cial, -cion, as atrocious, glacial, coercion (ocean). This sound (which is also taken by t in the same position) has been developed in comparatively modern times by palatalization of (s).
In a few words from foreign languages, c retains the foreign pronunciation, as in It. cicerone.
The combination CH virtually constitutes a distinct letter, having a history and sound of its own, and as such it receives a separate place in the alphabet of some languages, e.g., Spanish, Welsh. In English it is not so treated, and the CH- words are placed in Dictionaries and alphabetical lists between Ce- and Ci-. This inclusion of CH in the middle of C is one reason why the latter occupies so large a space in the Dictionary: C is virtually two letters in one, since beside the series ca-, ce-, ci-, cl-, etc., there is the parallel series cha-, che-, chi-, chl-, etc. For the history and sounds of CH, see before the beginning of the Ch- words.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gram., iii. (Z.), 6. B, c, d, g, p, t, ʓeendjað on e.
1588. J. Mellis, Briefe Instr., D vij. Goe to your Calender to the letter C. and there enter Chyst.
a. 1682. Sir T. Browne, Tracts (1684), 126. The Long Poem of Hugbaldus the Monk, wherein every word beginneth with a C.
1885. Goschen in Pall Mall Gaz., 5 Nov., 6/1. The ‘Three C’s’ of Foreign Policy…. They are those of cleanhandedness, continuity, and courage.
1887. Spectator, 19 March, 395/1. Mr. Hicks spells better with the progress of the suns, and writes Corinthians now with a ‘C,’ as Professor Jowett writes it.
2. C springs: see CEE (springs).
II. 1. Used like the other letters of the alphabet (see A, B) to denote serial order, with the value of third, as quire C, the third ‘quire’ or sheet of a book, ‘Horse Artillery, B Brigade, B and C Batteries, Woolwich.’ So with the subdivisions of the longer articles in this Dictionary (see General Explanations, p. xi.).
2. spec. a. in Music: The name of the first note, or key-note, of the ‘natural’ major scale; called also C in Germany, in France Ut, in Italy Do. Also, the scale or key which has that note for its tonic.
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., III. i. 76. C fa vt, that loues with all affection.
1782. Burney, Hist. Mus., II. 13. The different species of octave produced by the sounds belonging to the key of C natural.
1864. Browning, Abt Vogler, XII. For my resting-place is found, The C Major of this life.
1879. Grove, Dict. Mus., I. 204/1. The famous Quartet in C, dedicated to Haydn.
b. In abstract reasoning, hypothetical argumentation, law, etc., C is put for a third person or thing. (Cf. A II. 4.)
1864. Bowen, Logic (1870), 243. If B is A and B is C, the two Conclusions, A is C and C is A, are equally competent and equally immediate.
3. In Algebra: (see A II. 5). In the higher mathematics, c is especially used to denote a constant, as distinguished from a variable quantity.
III. Abbreviations.
1. C, now rarely c. = L. centum a hundred; the common sign for 100 in Roman numerals, as in dates, numbering of books or chapters; so CC = 200, CCCC or CD = 400; formerly written ii.c., etc. Also formerly = hundredweight, now cwt.
1420. E. E. Wills (1882), 46. Also iij.c of ledyn wyȝtis.
1509. Hawes, Past. Pleas., XIX. xxii. The shyp was great fyve c. tonne to charge.
1535. Coverdale, 2 Sam. xxi. 16. Thre C. weight of brasse. Ibid., Judg. xvi. 5. So wyll we geue the euery man a M. and an C. syluerlinges.
1709. Lond. Gaz., No. 4509/3. About 2s. per C.
Mod. The year of our Lord MDCCCLXXXVII.
2. Music. ‘As a sign of time Ｃ stands for common time, 4 crotchets in a bar; and [symbol] for allabreve time, with 2 or 4 minims in a bar (Grove, Dict. Music, 289/2). C = Counter-tenor, or Contralto; C.F. = canto fermo.
3. C. = various proper names, as Charles, Caius; C. = Cardinal (obs.). C (Chem.) Carbon; C (Electricity) current; C. = Centigrade (thermometer); c. chapter; c. century; c. (Cricket) caught; c. (before a date) = Lat. circa about; c. (in a dental formula in Zoology) canine teeth. C.A. Chartered Accountant (Scotland); C.B. Companion of the Bath; C.E. Civil Engineer; C.M. Master of Surgery; also in Hymns = common metre; C.P. ‘convicted poacher’; C.S. Civil Service.
1549. Latimer, Serm. bef. Edw. VI., V. (Arb.), 133, marg. M. Latimer lamentes the defection of C. Pole.
1840. E. Turner, Elem. Chem., II. ii. 150. Carbon C…. It is much to be wished that these symbols, being now generally known, should be rigorously adhered to. Berzelius has properly selected them from Latin names, as being known to all civilized nations.
1881. S. P. Thompson, Electr. & Magn., vi. 307. The number of webers-per-second of current flowing through a circuit is equal to the number of volts of electromotive-force divided by the number of ohms of resistance in the entire circuit…. C = E/R.
1882. Daily News, 30 May, 3/7. G. B. Studd was missed twice—first by Palmer from an easy chance of ‘c and b.’
1884. Lillywhite’s Cricket Ann., 76. C. R. Seymour c Chester b Barratt 34.
1855. Owen, Skel. & Teeth, 304. The homologies of the typical formula may be signified by i 1, i 2; c; p 3, p 4; m 1, m 2, m 3.
1836. E. Howard, R. Reefer, I. xxxii. 157. Don’t you know that the fellow was put on board with C. P. before his name?
Mod. Water boils at 100°C.
