lettre

Noun

letter (plural letters)

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.

   Synonyms:

   bookstaff, ltr

3. 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
4. (in plural) Literature.
   • 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. (US, uncountable) A size of paper, 8½ in × 11 in (215.9 mm × 279.4 mm).

   Synonyms:

   short bond paper

See all 12 meanings of letter