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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

letter.

A symbol in an alphabet.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈlɛtə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈlɛtɚ/General-American[-ɾɚ]General-American/ˈletə/Australia
  1. A symbol in an alphabet.

    There are twenty-six letters in the English alphabet.
  2. A written or printed communication, usually defined as longer and more formal than a note. (Sometimes specifically one that is on paper.)

    I wrote a letter to my sister about my life.
  3. The literal meaning of something, as distinguished from its intended and remoter meaning (the spirit).

  4. Literature.

    in-plural
    Benjamin Franklin was multiskilled – a scientist, politician and a man of letters.
  5. A division unit of a piece of law marked by a letter of the alphabet.

    Letter (b) constitutes an exception to this provision.
  6. A size of paper, 8½ in × 11 in (215.9 mm × 279.4 mm).

    US · uncountable
  7. A size of paper, 215 mm × 280 mm.

    Canada · uncountable
  8. Clipping of varsity letter.

    US · abbreviation · alt-of · clipping
  9. A single type; type, collectively; a style of type.

    dated
Where this word comes from

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.

verb/ˈlɛtə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈlɛtɚ/General-American[-ɾɚ]General-American/ˈletə/Australia
  1. To print, inscribe, or paint letters on something.

    transitive
  2. To earn a varsity letter (award).

    US · intransitive
Where this word comes from

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.

noun/ˈlɛtə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈlɛtɚ/General-American[-ɾɚ]General-American/ˈletə/Australia
  1. One who lets, or lets out.

    the letter of a room
    a blood-letter
  2. One who retards or hinders.

    archaic
Where this word comes from

From Middle English letere, equivalent to let + -er.

noun/ˈlɛtə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈlɛtɚ/General-American[-ɾɚ]General-American/ˈletə/Australia
  1. Alternative form of litter.

    alt-of · alternative · obsolete
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.