C – What does “C” stand for?

The most usual meanings of the abbreviation “C” are probably: Celsius/Centigrade to indicate the temperature. We say “Degree(s) Centigrade, or Degree(s) Celsius, where “C” (noun) is a degree on the so-called centigrade scale of temperature. “C” is also frequently used as the symbol to indicate the speed of light in a vacuum (299,792,458 meters/second).

Furthermore, “C” is a general-purpose and high-level computer programming language. This language is perfect to develop firmware and portable applications. The computer language C was initially developed in the 1970s by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Laboratories for the company’s Unix Operating System and was initially developed for writing software systems.

C is one of the world’s most widely applied computer languages and is compatible with the most-used computer systems. C has had a great influence on many contemporary computer languages, notably C++.

The language C is part of the procedural, structured paradigms of computer languages. It is flexible, powerful, and proven and can be used for a host of different applications. C is relatively high-level but it shares many attributes with assembly languages.

So you see, one simple letter, C, can have many different meanings, depending on the environment in which it is used. But as always, there are so many more meanings and applications. Just about every jargon has its own use of C and within that professional or social field, people will understand how to use it correctly. Here we go:

100 – Roman Numeral
Affirmative – Logging Abbreviation
Air Post – Philatelic Catalog Prefix for Non-ground Stamps
Ascorbic Acid – Vitamin
Average Grade
Battery Size
C Major – Music
C Programming Language Source Code – File Name Extension
Cable
Caesarian
Caffeine
Cairo – Egyptian Automobile License Plates
Calculated
Calibration
Calicivirus
Calm – No Wind
Calorie
Can – Buoy
Canada
Canadian
Cancel(l)ed
Cancer
Candela
Candle
Canine Tooth
Canoe
Cantankerous
Canterwood
Capacitance
Capacitor
Capacity
Cape
Capital
Captain
Carat
Carbon
Carbone – French for Carbon
Cardinal
Cargo/Transport aircraft
Carpenter
Carport
Carrier
Case
Casper
Castle
Catastrophe
Catcher – Baseball
Category – Abstract Algebra
Catholic
Caught
Cause
Caution
C-Check
Cedi – Currency of Ghana
Ceiling Limit – Weather Reports
Cell – Phone, Science
Cello
Celsius
Celtic
Cent
Centavo
Center
Center – Basketball, Football
Centerpartiet – Swedish Political Party
Centi – Abbreviation for 1/100
Centigrade
Centime
Centimeter
Central Standard Time – As Used in Time Groups
Centre – Canada Post Road Designation
Centum – Relating to an Indo-European Language Pronunciation
Century
Cereal
Certified
Cervical
Cervical Vertebra – Prefix, as in C-1, C-2
Cessna – Civilian Aircraft
Cessna Aircraft Corporation – Manufacturer’s Symbol
Chain
Chairman
Challenger
Championship
Chanel
Chapel
Chapter
Character(s)
Charity
Charlie
Charlotte, NC – Mint Mark on Coinage 1837-1861
Charlotte, North Carolina – Mint Mark on Early United States Gold Coins
Charmed Quark
Cheap
Cheese
Chemical
Cher
Chicago
Chicken
Chief
Child
Children and Adolescents
Chimpanzee
China
Cholesterol
Christ
Christian
Christmas
Chromosome – As in Banding
Chrysanthemum
Chrysler
Cilt
Cindy
Circa
Circinella – Microbiology
Circle
Circling – Approach and Landing Charts
Circuit
Circular
Circumference
Cited
CitiGroup, Inc. – NYSE Symbol
Citizen(s)
Citrus
City
Civilization
Clarification
Class
Classic
Classification
Cleanse
Clear
Clerical – For ACG Duties
Cleveland
Cleverness factor
Click
Cliff – Stores 100 Code
Climbing
Clinical
Clock
Clock Mode – Aviation
Clockwise
Close
Cloud
Cloudy
Club – Class Airfare
Clubs – Playing Cards
Clueless
Coach
Coast Guard – Military Aircraft Prefix
Cocaine
Cockroach
Cod
Code
Codex
Coefficient
Cold and Clammy
Collaboration
Collect
Collector
Collector – Transistor, Electronics
College
Colon – Currency of Costa Rica and El Salvador
Colonial
Color
Colorado
Colored
Colt Pistol
Columbus
Combat
Combination(s) – Probability
Combined – US DoD
Comedy
Comfort
Comma
Command
Commandant
Commander
Commission
Commitment
Committee
Common
Common meter
Commons – Designating Bills introduced in the House of Commons
Commonwealth
Communication
Communicator
Communism
Communists
Community
Compact
Compact car
Company
Compare
Compassion
Compensation
Competent
Compiler
Complaining
Complete
Complex
Complexity
Compliance – Network World
Composition
Compression of Earth
Compromise
Compromise Band
Comptroller
Computational
Compute(r)
Computing
Con
Concentrate
Concepts
Concern
Concise
Conclusion
Concurrent
Condemned
Condition(s)
Conduit
Confession
Confidential
Configuration
Conflict
Congius – Latin for Colt
Congress
Connect – ITU-T
Connected
Connection
Connectivity
Connector
Conseco
Consequence
Conservative
Conservative – Party Member
Consistency
Consonant – Speech
Constant
Constant of Integration – Calculus
Constituent
Constitution
Constriction
Consul
Consumption
Consumption – Economics
Container – SDH
Contemporary
Context
Contraction(s)
Contralto
Contribution
Control
Controversial
Controversy
Convective
Conventional
Convergent
Conviction
Cook
Cookie
Cool
Cool Breeze – Rapper
Coolness
Cooperate
Coordination
Copy
Copyright – Usually Written ©
Core
Cork – Irish Car Registration
Corner – Welded Joint Type
Coronary
Corporate
Corporation
Correct
Correctness
Correlations
Corruption
Cosmopolitan
Cost(s)
Cotton
Cough
Coulomb
Counsel
counsel and Care
Count
Counted
Counter-tenor
Countess
Coupe
Coupon
Courage
Course Angle
Court of Chancery – UK
Cousin
Cover
Coverage factor
Covered
Coward
Crabby
Cranial Nerve
Cranky
Create
Creativity
Creator
Credit
Creeping Line Pattern – US DoD
Creepy
Critical
Cronies
Crowned
Crushing
Cubic
Cubs
Cult
Culture
Culver Aircraft Corporation – US Navy Aircraft
Cum – Latin for With, usually seen with a Bar over the C
Cunning
Cup
Cure
Curie
Curiosity
Current – Action Code
Cursed
Curtis-Wright Corporation
Customer
Customer device
Cut
Cute
Cyan
Cycle
Cycloplegic
Cyclops
Cylinder
Cylindrical
Cysteine – Amino Acid
Cytosine

“C” is also seen as a symbol in the following:

Economy Class – Air Freight
Exposure Concentration – Environment
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, PA – Designates Original Point of Circulation of Dollar Bills
form C – Break-Before-Make in Contacts
Fresnel Cosine Integral
Individual – IRB
Musical pitch/note
Nicaraguan Cordoba – National Currency
One Hundred
Prince Edward Island – Canada Post Designation
Programming Language
Roman numeral 100
Sea
See
Set of Complex Numbers – Mathematics
Speed of Light
The Symbol for the Speed of Light in a Vacuum (299,792,458 meters/second)
Transport – US Military Aircraft Designation for Transport Aircraft since 1962
Undenominated US Stamp (20 cents, introduced November 1 1981)