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 canulated with the tip a little elevated towards the palate. In Greek words it is frequently aspirated with an h after it, as in rhapsody, rhetoric, &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 gerenda causa; R. F. E. D. recte factum et 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

$\backslash rho$, with a small mark over it, signified 100; with the same mark under it, it denoted $1000\; \backslash times\; 10$; thus $\backslash rho$,

signifies 100,000. In the Hebrew numeration $\backslash aleph$ denoted 200; and with two horizontal points over it $\backslash aleph$, thus $\backslash aleph$ = 200,000.

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