e

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The fifth letter of the modern English alphabet.
2. n. Any of the speech sounds represented by the letter e.
3. n. The fifth in a series.
4. n. Something shaped like the letter E.
5. n. A grade that indicates failing status.
6. n. Music The third tone in the scale of C major or the fifth tone in the relative minor scale.
7. n. Music A key or scale in which E is the tonic.
8. n. Music A written or printed note representing this tone.
9. n. Music A string, key, or pipe tuned to the pitch of this tone.
10. n. Mathematics The base of the natural system of logarithms, having a numerical value of approximately 2.71828.
11. n. The hypothesized traditional source of those narrative portions of the Pentateuch in which God is referred to as Elohim rather than with the Tetragrammaton.
12. abbr. electron.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. The fifth letter and second vowel in our alphabet. It has the same place in the order of the alphabet as the corresponding sign or character in the older alphabets, Latin and Greek and Phenician, from which ours is derived (see A); but the value originally attached to the sign has undergone much modification. The comparative scheme of forms (like that given for the preceding letters) is as follows: From the capital E have come by gradual modification and variation (as in the case of the other letters) all the other printed and written forms. The value of the sign in the Semitic alphabets was and still is that of an aspiration, a peculiar smooth h. But when the alphabet was adapted to Greek use, this unnecessary aspirate-sign was utilized as a sign for a vowel-sound, either short or long, being nearly that instanced in our two words met and they. This double value in point of quantity it had in all early Greek use, and until in one section of the Greek race—and later, after their example, in all the others—it was found convenient to distinguish the long sound by a separate sign, H (see H), after which the E was restricted to denoting the short sound, as in our met. This distinction was not introduced into the Italican alphabets; hence the same sign stands for both short and long sound in Latin, and with us. The name of the sign in Phenician was he (of doubtful meaning; usually explained as ‘window’); in Greek it was εἱ%26, and later ἐ\ψιλόν, ‘simple e’—it is believed, in antithesis to the double αι, which then had the same sound. In most of the languages of Europe the sign has retained its original Greek and Latin value; in the English it has done this ouly so far as concerns the short sound; the long sound has, in the history of the changes of pronunciation, so generally passed over into what was originally the long i-sound, that we now call this sound long e (as in meet, mete, meat, etc.). The proper e-sound (in met, they) is phonetically a medium between the completely open a of father and the close sound i of pique. In its two quantities (met, they) it constitutes about five per cent. of English utterance. Taking into account also the numerous digraphs, as ea, ee, ei, ey, ae, ie, oe, in which it is found, and its frequent occurrence as a silent letter, e is the most used of our alphabetic signs. This frequency is due in considerable measure to the general reduction of the vowels of endings to e that constitutes a conspicuous part of the change from Anglo-Saxon to English. The total loss then, further, of many of these endings in utterance has left numerous cases of silent final e, to which others have been added by analogy with these. A degree of value in the economy of our written speech belongs to it, in so far as its occurrence after a siugle consonant now almost regularly indicates the long sound of the vowel preceding that consonant, as in mate, mete, mite, mote, mute; but in many cases it appears also after a single consonant preceded by a short vowel, and such cases, as give, live, have, vineyard, constitute one of the classes where reform in orthography is most easily made, and has most to recommend it. (See-e.) E has further come to be used as an orthographic auxiliary, in some cases after c and g, where it is conventionally regarded as preserving the so-called “soft” sound of those letters, as in peaceable, manageable.
2. As a numeral, 250.
3. As a symbol: In the calendar, the fifth of the dominical letters.
4. In logic, the sign of the universal negative proposition. See A, 2.
5. In algebra: [capitalized] The operation of enlargement: thus, Efx = f (x + 1); also, the greatest integer as small as the quantity which follows: thus, . [l. c.] The base of the Napierian system of logarithms; also, the eccentricity of a conic.
6. In music: The key-note of the major key of four sharps, having the signature , or of the minor key of one sharp, having the signature ; also, the final of the Phrygian mode in medieval music.
7. In the fixed system of solmization, the third tone of the scale, called mi: hence so named by French musicians.
8. On the keyboard of the pianoforte, the white key to the right of every group of two black keys.
9. The tone given by such a key, or a tone in unison with such a tone.
10. The degree of a staff assigned to such a key or tone; with the treble clef, the lower line and upper space .
11. A note on such a degree, indicating such a key or tone .
12. As an abbreviation: East: as, E. by S., east by south. See S. E., E. S. E., etc.
13. In various phrase-abbreviations. See e. g., i. e., E. and O. E., etc.
14. A prefix of Anglo-Saxon origin, one of the forms of the original prefix ge-. It remains unfelt in enough. See i-.
15. A prefix of Latin origin, a reduced form of ex-, alternating with ex- before consonants, as in evade, elude, emit, etc. See ex-. In some scientific terms it denotes negation or privation, like Greek ἀ-privative (being then conventionally called e- privative): as, ecaudate, tailless, anurous; edentate, toothless, etc. In elope the prefix is an accommodated form of Dutch ent-.
16. The unpronounced termination of many English words. Silent final e is of various origin, being the common representative (pronounced in earlier English) of almost all the Anglo-Saxon, Old French, Latin, etc., inflection-endings. In nouns and adjectives of native origin it may be regarded as representing the original vowel-ending of the nominative (as in ale, tale, stake, rake, etc.), or, more generally, the original oblique cases (dative, etc.), which from their greater frequency became in Middle English the accepted form of the nominative also, as in lode, pole, mile, wile, etc.; similarly, in words of Latin and other origin, as rule, rude, spike, sprite, etc. In verbs of native origin -e represents the original infinitive (AS. -an, ME. -en, -e) mixed with the present indicative, etc., as in make, wake, write, etc. In a great number of words the -e has disappeared as an actual sound, the letter being retained, as a result of phonetic and orthographic accident, as a conventional sign of “length”—an accented vowel followed by a single consonant before final silent e being regularly “long,” as in rate, write, rode, tube, etc., words distinguished thus from forms with a “short” vowel, rat, writ, rod, tub, etc. In words of recent introduction -e is used whenever this distinction is to be made. In some cases the vowel preceding -e is short, as in give, live, bade, have, javelin, vineyard, etc., especially in polysyllables iu -ile, -ine, -ite, etc., as hostile, glycerine, opposite, etc.; but some of these words were formerly or are now often spelled without the superfluous e, as bad, glycerin, fibrin, deposit, etc. Etymologically, final e in modern English has no weight or value, it being a mere chance whether it represents an original vowel or syllable.
17. [capitalized] The sign of residuation (which see).
18. [capitalized] In chem., sometimes used as the symbol for erbium: more commonly Er.
19. The common symbol for the modulus of elasticity, or the force, in pounds, required to stretch a bar of any material one square inch in cross-section until its length is increased by one hundred per cent.
20. In electricity, a symbol for electromotive force.
21. An abbreviation of Earl;
22. of Eastern;
23. of English;
24. in experimental psychology, of experimenter.

Wiktionary

1. n. The fifth letter of the English alphabet, called e and written in the Latin script.
2. n. The ordinal number fifth, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called e and written in the Latin script.
3. n. The name of the Latin script letter E/e.
4. n. mathematics the base of the natural logarithm, 2.718281828459045…
5. n. The fifth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.
6. n. mathematics The base of natural logarithms, a transcendental number with a value of approximately 2.718281828459
7. n. close-mid front unrounded vowel

GNU Webster's 1913

1. The fifth letter of the English alphabet.
2. (Mus.) E is the third tone of the model diatonic scale. E♭ (E flat) is a tone which is intermediate between D and E.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the base of the natural system of logarithms; approximately equal to 2.718282...
2. n. a fat-soluble vitamin that is essential for normal reproduction; an important antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals in the body
3. n. the 5th letter of the Roman alphabet
4. n. the cardinal compass point that is at 90 degrees
5. n. a radioactive transuranic element produced by bombarding plutonium with neutrons