DictionaryAI

letter

LET-ur/ˈlɛtɚ/LET-uh/ˈlɛtə/

Pluralletters

Verbletters, lettering, lettered

12 meanings of letter

Practice

  1. 1
    written messagenouncountable
    A written or printed message sent to someone, usually longer than a note and composed with more formality.

    He sent a formal letter of complaint to the airline.

    Their correspondence filled a box with letters spanning forty years.

    UsageWrite a letter to someone; name its purpose with of: a letter of complaint, a letter of recommendation.

    Similarmessage, note, missive, epistle

    Note

    In English it replaced Old English ǣrendġewrit, "message writing." William Walsh's Letters and Poems, Amorous and Gallant (1692) treats it as a form with its own manners: "the style of letters ought to be free, easy, and natural."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The message sense displaced Old English ǣrendġewrit, literally 'message writing'. en.wiktionary.org
    • William Walsh wrote Letters and Poems, Amorous and Gallant, published in 1692. grubstreetproject.net
    • The attribution and substance are correct, but the quotation modernizes the original spelling and punctuation without saying so: the original begins 'The Stile of Letters ought to be free, easy and natural'. researchportal.northumbria.ac.uk
  2. 2
    alphabet signnouncountable
    A written character that belongs to an alphabet.

    The Greek alphabet has a letter for each vowel sound.

    Children learn to recognize letters before they can read whole words.

    UsageUse in for a script or style: in capital letters, in Greek letters.

    Similarcharacter, symbol

    Note

    The alphabet sense came into English through Old French from Latin littera, and it pushed out the native Old English word bōcstæf, literally "book staff." The King James Bible of 1611 already describes a superscription written "in letters of Greeke, and Latin, & Hebrew." That construction is still how English names a script: in Greek letters, in Roman letters.

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

  3. 3
    exact wordingnoun
    The exact, literal sense of something such as a law or promise, as opposed to its underlying purpose or spirit.

    The court applied the letter of the statute rather than its spirit.

    Obeying the letter of a promise while breaking its spirit is a kind of dishonesty.

    UsageUsually the letter of a law or rule, set against its spirit. Keeping the letter but not the spirit is a criticism.

    Similarwording

    Oppositespirit

    Note

    Jeremy Taylor in 1650 weighs "the letter of the Law" against its reason and intention. Tennyson's The Princess (1847) has "I broke the letter of it to keep the sense."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Jeremy Taylor's relevant work was first published in 1650. tianmu.org
    • Taylor uses the quoted wording and contrasts literal observance with the law's reason and the lawgiver's intention. tianmu.org
    • Alfred Tennyson wrote The Princess, first published in 1847. en.wikisource.org
    • The Princess contains the quotation exactly as given. gutenberg.org
  4. 4
    verbtransitive
    To add lettering to something by printing, inscribing, or painting it.

    Volunteers letter the protest signs by hand each year.

    The artist lettered each gravestone with careful strokes.

    Similarinscribe, paint, print, label

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–9

This comes from Middle English letter, from Old French letre, from Latin littera meaning 'letter of the alphabet' (and in the plural 'epistle'). It replaced the Old English words bōcstæf (literally 'book staff') and ǣrendġewrit (literally 'message writing').

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

  • English letter comes through Middle English letter from Old French letre and Latin littera. en.wiktionary.org
  • Latin littera means a letter of the alphabet, and its plural can mean an epistle. en.wiktionary.org
  • Letter displaced Old English bōcstæf in the alphabetic sense and ǣrendġewrit in the written-message sense. en.wiktionary.org
  • Old English bōcstæf literally means book staff. en.wiktionary.org
  • Old English ǣrendġewrit literally means message writing. en.wiktionary.org
Meaning 10

From Middle English letere, equivalent to the verb 'let' plus the suffix '-er'.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

  • Letter, meaning someone who lets or hinders, comes from Middle English letere and is equivalent to let plus -er. en.wiktionary.org