al;pha;nu;mer;ic pronunciation: variant(s): also al;pha;nu;mer;i;cal function: adjective etymology: alphabetic + numeric, numericaldate: 1950 1 : consisting of both letters and numbers and often other symbols (as punctuation marks and mathematical symbols) lt;an alphanumeric codegt;; also : being a character in an alphanumeric system2 : capable of using or displaying alphanumeric characters— al;pha;nu;mer;i;cal;ly adverb — al;pha;nu;mer;ics noun plural