Relating to or concerning the alphabet, alphabetical order, or the study of letters and writing systems.
From 'alphabet' + the suffix '-ary' (meaning 'relating to'). This formal adjective emerged in English scholarly texts dealing with writing systems and linguistic studies.
When medieval monks talked about 'alphabetary concerns,' they meant the whole complicated business of deciding which letters go where—because back then, alphabetical order wasn't standardized and it genuinely mattered for organizing massive books.
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