What does ar mean?
Ar is the conventional English name of the letter R, the eighteenth letter of the modern Latin alphabet as used in English. Like the names of other letters, it functions as a word in its own right: children learning to read are taught to say 'ar' when they identify the letter, and people spell words aloud by naming each letter in sequence. In speech its name corresponds closely to the typical pronunciation of the letter itself — an open, r-coloured vowel — which is why 'ar' has become culturally associated with the growling 'Arr!' of fictional pirates, a link popularised by stage and film portrayals of buccaneers. Beyond these uses, the two-letter string 'ar' should not be confused with the unrelated word 'are', which serves both as a form of the verb 'to be' and as a metric unit of land area.
nounThe name of the letter 'R', the eighteenth letter of the modern English alphabet.
- The name of the letter R, the eighteenth letter of the English alphabet.
"The teacher wrote a large capital ar on the board to begin the phonics lesson."
"In alphabet flashcards, each card shows the letter alongside its name, such as ar."
"The radio host spelled out the website address letter by letter: 'a, ar, c…'"
Say 'ar' out loud and you've pronounced the very sound pirates are famous for — the letter R's name is one of the few that sounds like a character.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of ar
The name 'ar' descends from the Latin name of the letter R, which the Romans called 'er' or 'ar' forms derived through Old French transmission of the Latin alphabet into English. English letter names were standardised in the medieval and early modern periods, largely following French practice, and 'ar' has remained stable since. Its closest relatives are simply the names of the neighbouring letters in the same inherited alphabet rather than lexical cognates.
How ar is actually used
As a standalone word, 'ar' appears mainly in educational contexts (phonics, spelling aloud) and in the stereotypical pirate exclamation 'Arr!' — though the pirate usage is a distinct colloquialism rather than the formal letter-name. It is always lowercase in ordinary prose unless referring to a capital letter.