letter

¹ American  

[let-er] / ˈlɛt ər /

noun

1. a written or printed communication addressed to a person or organization and usually transmitted by mail.

2. a symbol or character that is conventionally used in writing and printing to represent a speech sound and that is part of an alphabet.

3. a piece of printing type bearing such a symbol or character.

4. a particular style of type.

5. such types collectively.

6. Often letters a formal document granting a right or privilege.

7. actual terms or wording; literal meaning, as distinct from implied meaning or intent (opposed to spirit).

   the letter of the law.

8. (used with a singular or plural verb) letters,

   1. literature in general.

   2. the profession of literature.

   3. learning; knowledge, especially of literature.

9. an emblem consisting of the initial or monogram of a school, awarded to a student for extracurricular activity, especially in athletics.

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verb (used with object)

• letters,
  present (3rd person singular)
• lettered,
  past participle,  past
• lettering
  present participle

1. to mark or write with letters; inscribe.

   I picked up the crossword and lettered in P-E-A-R-L for the final clue.

verb (used without object)

• letters,
  present (3rd person singular)
• lettered,
  past participle,  past
• lettering
  present participle

1. to earn a letter in an interscholastic or intercollegiate activity, especially a sport.

   He lettered in track at Harvard.

idioms

1. to the letter, to the last particular; precisely.

   His orders were carried out to the letter.

letter ² American  

[let-er] / ˈlɛt ər /

noun

Chiefly British.

1. a person who lets, especially one who rents out property.

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letter British  

/ ˈlɛtə /

noun

1. any of a set of conventional symbols used in writing or printing a language, each symbol being associated with a group of phonetic values in the language; character of the alphabet

2. a written or printed communication addressed to a person, company, etc, usually sent by post in an envelope

3. the strict legalistic or pedantic interpretation of the meaning of an agreement, document, etc; exact wording as distinct from actual intention (esp in the phrase the letter of the law ) Compare spirit 1

4. archaic printing a style of typeface

   a fancy letter

5. 1. following the literal interpretation or wording exactly

   2. attending to every detail

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verb

1. to write or mark letters on (a sign, etc), esp by hand

2. (tr) to set down or print using letters

letter More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing letter

• bread and butter letter
• crank call (letter)
• dead letter
• four-letter word
• poison-pen letter
• red-letter day
• to the letter

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Synonym Usage

See literature.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• letterer
  noun
• letterless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• lettering
  present
• lettered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• letter
  simple
• letters
  simple
• have lettered
  perfect
• has lettered
  perfect
• am lettering
  progressive
• are lettering
  progressive
• is lettering
  progressive
• have been lettering
  perfect progressive
• has been lettering
  perfect progressive

Past

• lettered
  simple
• had lettered
  perfect
• was lettering
  progressive
• were lettering
  progressive
• had been lettering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will letter
  simple
• will have lettered
  perfect
• will be lettering
  progressive
• will have been lettering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of letter¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, variant of lettre, from Old French, from Latin littera “alphabetic character”; in plural, “epistle, literature”

Origin of letter²

First recorded in 1550–60; let ¹ + -er ¹ ( def. )

Explanation

A letter is one of the characters that make up the alphabet. When a child first learns to write, she often starts with the letters in her name. Then she can write a message, or letter, to her grandmother. The alphabet begins with the letters a, b, c, d. These are written as capital letters when they appear at the start of a sentence or a proper noun, such as a person's name. Another letter is the kind you write and send to someone through the mail. Letter comes from the Old French letre, "character, letter, or note," from the Latin littera, "letter of the alphabet," and also "a writing or document."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

letter letters lettered lettering

This is the most important line in your letter: “My financial adviser is particularly concerned about the parents being left with virtually no assets beyond their pensions and Social Security.”

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

Last month, the chairs of nine drugmakers, including AstraZeneca, GSK, Novartis, Roche Holding and Sanofi, published an open letter warning that Europe is losing the race for pharmaceutical investment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

The other daughter's letter began "Dear Caleb", rather than addressing him as her father, and asked him to "tell everyone what you did it and receive your outcome".

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

He said now we needed a letter from the fire marshal that our school building was safe for children.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026

She looks at the letter over my shoulder.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

Flynn sobbed loudly as the letters from his children were read.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

This week, they sent letters to the chief executives of all four corporations asking them to sign the pledge.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

The author himself was conflicted about her, writing Cathy as a dangerous beauty incapable of empathy in his book, yet expressing how dear she was to him in letters to his editor, Pascal Covici.

From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026

Also on the table are old letters addressed to Ferguson from disgruntled United fans amid speculation he was about to sell midfielder Paul Ince to Inter Milan in the summer of 1995.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

“Why would these letters be on your desk?”

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

And, in an odd side effect, it upended Khan el-Khalili’s normally placid gold jewelry and bullion stores, with their old-fashioned curly lettered signage and the Quranic recitations drifting ceaselessly from dusty speakers.

From New York Times ● Mar. 5, 2024

Sitting in front of the Wales Millennium Centre's famous lettered windows, Mr Farrow said the cost of "just opening the doors and running this facility" has gone up by £1m per year since 2019.

From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2023

He lettered from 1963-65 on Kentucky’s varsity under Charlie Bradshaw after playing on the freshman squad and was a consensus first team All-America as a senior.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 30, 2023

She sat on the floor wide-eyed and curious as she reached for one of the plush lettered blocks Mariscal brought for her.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2023

The text was hand- lettered, and the pictures were stick figures.

From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli

The sign has gone, though the shape of the lettering can still be made out; the windows are blacked out and the doors boarded up.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

New lettering was installed the next day on the front portico.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

This early-to-mid 19th century craft involves applying artwork, lettering and gold leaf backwards onto glass panes, as often seen in traditional pubs or shop fronts.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

His custom designs range variously include the Miesha name, a half-lady ghost-butterfly, splattered imagery, quotes in cursive and barbed wire lettering.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026

She takes the hardbound green volume, with gold lettering and a line drawing of a girl with abundant red hair in a chignon on the front, and opens it.

From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline

Related Words

• answer
• memo
• memorandum
• message
• note
• postcard
• reply
• report