letter

Syllables: let·ter/ˈlɛtə//ˈlɛtɚ/

letter noun: a symbol in an alphabet. Also the clipping of varsity letter.

Noun (1)

letter (plural letters)

A symbol in an alphabet.
- There are twenty-six letters in the English alphabet.
- And a superscription also was written ouer him in letters of Greeke, and Latin, & Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE IEWES.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 23:38
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.
- The style of letters ought to be free, easy, and natural.1692, William Walsh, “Preface”, in Letters and Poems, Amorous and Gallant
Synonyms:

bookstaff, ltr
The literal meaning of something, as distinguished from its intended and remoter meaning (the spirit).
- In obedience to humane laws, we muſt obſerve the letter of the Law, where we can without doing violence to the reaſon of the Law and the intention of the Law-giver: but where they croſſe each other, the charity of the Law is to be preferred before its diſcipline, and the reaſon of it before the...1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, “Of Obedience”, in The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC, section I (Of Obedience to our Superiours), page 183
- I broke the letter of it to keep the sense.1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part IV”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 81
(in plural) Literature.
- Benjamin Franklin was multiskilled – a scientist, politician and a man of letters.
A division unit of a piece of law marked by a letter of the alphabet.
- Letter (b) constitutes an exception to this provision.
(US, uncountable) A size of paper, 8½ in × 11 in (215.9 mm × 279.4 mm).

Synonyms:

short bond paper
(Canada, uncountable) A size of paper, 215 mm × 280 mm.
(dated) A single type; type, collectively; a style of type.
- Under these, thro’ a garden in which is an ample fountaine, was the King's printing-house, and that famous letter so much esteem’d.1644 February 17 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 8 February 1644]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition...

Verb

letter (third-person singular simple present letters, present participle lettering, simple past and past participle lettered)

(transitive) To print, inscribe, or paint letters on something.
(US, intransitive, scholastic) To earn a varsity letter (award).
- I think Mom lettered in shot put her junior year.1992 September 23, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes

Noun (2)

letter (plural letters)

One who lets, or lets out.
- the letter of a room
- a blood-letter
(archaic) One who retards or hinders.

Also used as

letter is also the clipping of varsity letter.

letter is also the alternative form of litter.

letter meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

letter in Hindi

a symbol in an alphabet: अक्षर akṣar, लिपि lipi, वर्ण varṇ, आखर ākhar, अखर akhar
written message — see also missive: पत्र patra, चिट्ठी ciṭṭhī, लेख lekh, उत्तर uttar, पत्रिका patrikā

letter in Tamil

a symbol in an alphabet: எழுத்து eḻuttu
written message — see also missive: கடுதாசி kaṭutāci

letter in Marathi

a symbol in an alphabet: अक्षर akṣar
written message — see also missive: पत्र patra

letter in Urdu

a symbol in an alphabet: حَرْف harf, اَکْشَر akśar
written message — see also missive: خَط xat, پَتْر patr, مَکْتُوب maktūb, چِٹّھی ciṭṭhī, نامَہ nāma, کاغَذ kāġaz

More languagesFewer languages

letter in Bengali: অক্ষর okkhor, হরফ horoph, চিঠি ciṭhi
letter in Telugu: అక్షరము akṣaramu, లేఖ lēkha, ఉత్తరము uttaramu, జాబు jābu
letter in Malayalam: അക്ഷരം akṣaraṁ, കത്ത് kattŭ
letter in Kannada: ಅಕ್ಷರ akṣara, ಪತ್ರ patra
letter in Punjabi: ਅੱਖਰ akkhar, ਹਰਫ਼ haraf, ਖ਼ਤ xat, ਪੱਤਰ pattar
letter in Gujarati: અક્ષર akṣar, હરફ haraph, પત્ર patra, ચિઠ્ઠી ciṭhṭhī
letter in Odia: ଲିପି lipi, ଅକ୍ଷର akshara, ଚିଠି ciṭhi
letter in Sanskrit: वर्ण varṇa, अक्षर akṣara, पत्रिका patrikā
letter in Sinhala: අකුර akura
letter in Assamese: আখৰ akhor, চিঠি sithi
letter in Nepali: अक्षर akṣar, पत्र patra
letter in Pashto: حرف harf, خط xat, مکتوب maktūb
letter in Tagalog: titik, letra, liham, sulat
letter in Arabic: حَرْف ḥarf, حرف ḥarf, رِسَالَة risāla, مَكْتُوب maktūb
letter in Malay: huruf, surat
letter in Indonesian: huruf, surat
letter in Persian: حَرْف harf, نِویسِه nevise, وات vât, نَامَه nāma
letter in Thai: ตัวอักษร dtuua-àk-sɔ̌ɔn, อักษร àk-sɔ̌ɔn, อักขระ àk-kà-rà, ตัวหนังสือ dtuua-nǎng-sʉ̌ʉ
letter in Vietnamese: chữ cái, kí tự, thư
letter in Myanmar: အက္ခရာ akhka.ra, စာ ca
Sindhi: اکر ākhr, چٺي cṭhe
Dhivehi: އަކުރު akuru

Examples of letter in a sentence

I’m not sure how to word this letter to the council.
It had been six days since his departure, when I received a letter from him.
He published an open letter to the governor on a full page of The New York Times.

All 40 example sentences with letter

Synonyms of letter

Forms of letter

Noun
plural	letters
alternative form	lettor
alternative form (obsolete)	lettre
Verb
third-person singular present	letters
present participle	lettering
past participle	lettered
past	lettered

Past tense of letter: lettered

Plural of letter: letters

Origin of letter

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.

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

Words formed from letter

Phrases with letter

129 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with letter

Questions about letter

What does letter mean?: Letter means a symbol in an alphabet.
What is letter in Hindi?: Letter in Hindi is अक्षर (akṣar), लिपि (lipi), वर्ण (varṇ). See Letter meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is letter?: Letter can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce letter?: Letter is pronounced /ˈlɛtə/ (UK).
What is the plural of letter?: The plural of letter is letters.

Words near letter in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: letter (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-letter.ogg, En-us-letter.ogg.

Cite this entry: “letter.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/letter. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.