R

R, or r, a liquid consonant, being the 17th letter of our alphabet. Its sound is formed by a guttural extrusion of the breath vibrated through the mouth, with a sort of quivering motion of the tongue drawn from the teeth, and cannulated with the tip a little elevated towards the palate. In Greek words it is frequently aspirated with an h after it, as in rhaphody, rhetic, &c. otherwise it is always followed by a vowel at the beginning of words and syllables.

In the notes of the ancients, R. or RO. signifies Roma; R. C. Romana civitas; R. G. C. rei gerendæ causa; R. F. E. D. recte factum & dictum; R. G. F. regis filius; R. P. res publica, or Romani principes; and R. R. R. F. F. F. res Romana ruerit ferro, fame, flamma.

Used as a numeral, R. anciently stood for 80; and with a dash over it, thus $\backslash bar\{R\}$, for 80,000; but the Greek $\backslash rho$, or $\backslash rho$, signified 100.

In the prescriptions of physicians, R. or $\backslash bar\{R\}$ stands for recipe, i. e. "take."