Link Centre Dictionary

letter

let·ter

UK/ˈlɛtə/ US/ˈlɛtɚ/ very common us
noun (5) verb (3)

noun

1.

a written message addressed to a person or organization

  • “mailed an indignant letter to the editor”
Synonyms
2.

the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech

  • “his grandmother taught him his letters”
Synonyms
3.

a strictly literal interpretation (as distinct from the intention)

  • “he followed instructions to the letter”
  • “he obeyed the letter of the law”
4.

an award earned by participation in a school sport

  • “he won letters in three sports”
Synonyms
5.

owner who lets another person use something (housing usually) for hire

verb

1.
2.

set down or print with letters

3.

mark letters on or mark with letters

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • accountant's letter
  • advisory letter
  • air letter
  • apostolic letter
  • begging letter
  • big letter
  • black letter
  • black letter day

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.