English Explanatory Dictionary

letter

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A symbol in an alphabet.
  2. A written or printed communication, usually defined as longer and more formal than a note. (Sometimes specifically one that is on paper.)
  3. The literal meaning of something, as distinguished from its intended and remoter meaning (the spirit).
  4. Literature.
  5. A division unit of a piece of law marked by a letter of the alphabet.
  6. A size of paper, 8½ in × 11 in (215.9 mm × 279.4 mm).
  7. A size of paper, 215 mm × 280 mm.
  8. Clipping of varsity letter.
  9. A single type; type, collectively; a style of type.
verb
  1. To print, inscribe, or paint letters on something.
  2. To earn a varsity letter (award).
noun
  1. One who lets, or lets out.
  2. One who retards or hinders.
noun
  1. Alternative form of litter.

Pronunciation

/ˈlɛtə/ En-uk-letter.ogg /ˈlɛtɚ/ [-ɾɚ] En-us-letter.ogg /ˈletə/ [-ɾə] /ˈlɛʈ(ː)əʳ/

Word forms

letter letters lettre lettering lettered lettor

Etymology

From Middle English letter, lettre, from Old French letre, from Latin littera (“letter of the alphabet"; in plural, "epistle”). Displaced Old English bōcstæf (literally “book staff”) in sense 1 and ǣrendġewrit (literally “message writing”) in sense 2.

Synonyms

bookstaff ltr short bond paper

Related words

literacy literal literary literate literature

Derived words

accountant's letter advisory letter air letter airletter apostolic letter begging letter beletter big letter black letter black-letter black letter day black-letter day black letter law black-letter law block letter bread-and-butter letter bubble letter bye-letter call letters canine letter capital letter chain letter circular letter Claudian letters comfort letter commercial letter of credit covering letter cover letter crank letter criss-cross letter crossed letter day letter dead letter dead letter office Dear Colleague letter Dear Jane letter Dear John letter deficiency letter demand letter dog's letter dominical letter double letter drive letter drop letter empty letter encyclical letter fan letter form letter four-letter four-letter man four-letter word French letter Greek letter Greek-letter green-ink letter guarantee letter in capital letters investment letter irrevocable letter of credit letter agreement

Translations

Afrikaans: brief Ainu: カンピ Aklanon: sueat Albanian: letër Southern Altai: кат Amharic: ደብዳቤ Arabic: رِسَالَة Arabic: مَكْتُوب Arabic: جواب Arabic: برية Hassaniya Arabic: براوة Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܐܸܓܲܪܬܵܐ Armenian: նամակ Aromanian: scriturã Aromanian: scripturã Aromanian: scriitoari Assamese: চিঠি Asturian: carta Aukan: biifi Azerbaijani: məktub Bashkir: хат Basque: eskutitz Belarusian: ліст Belarusian: пісьмо́ Bengali: চিঠি Bhojpuri: चिट्ठी Bulgarian: писмо́ Burmese: စာ Buryat: бэшэг Carpathian Rusyn: пи́смо Catalan: carta Cebuano: sulat Central Atlas Tamazight: ⵜⴰⴱⵔⴰⵜ Chechen: кехат Cherokee: ᎪᏪᎵ Chichewa: kalata Chinese Cantonese: 信 Chinese Cantonese: 書信 /书信 Chinese Cantonese: 尺牘 /尺牍 Chinese: фущин Chinese: фузы Chinese: 批 Chinese: 批信 Eastern Min Chinese: 批 Eastern Min Chinese: 信 Gan Chinese: 信 Jin Chinese: 信 Chinese Mandarin: 信 Chinese Mandarin: 信件 Chinese Mandarin: 書信 /书信 Chinese Mandarin: 尺牘 /尺牍 Northern Min Chinese: 信 Wu Chinese: 信 Wu Chinese: 書信 /书信 Xiang Chinese: 信 Chuvash: ҫыру
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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