letter

A1 Topic:Communication

US /ˈlɛtɚ/ UK /ˈlɛtə/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like later /ɛ/ vs /eɪ/

Freq #831

Meanings

1

noun
A written or printed message that you send to someone, usually by mail.

I wrote a letter to my grandmother last week.
2

noun
A written symbol that represents a sound in a language, such as A, B, or C.

There are twenty-six letters in the English alphabet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a written or printed... missive

2 noun · a written symbol that... alphabetic characterletter of the alphabet

More bookstaffltr

Word family

Forms letteredletteringletters

Derived forms airletterbeletterblack-letterbloodletterbye-letterfour-lettergreek-letterletter-boxletter-carrierletter-highletter-perfectletter-quality

Related forms literacy literal literary literate literature

Etymology

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.

letter Middle English letre Old French littera Latin

View etymology graph ->

External links

# letter

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈlɛtɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈlɛtə/
**Frequency rank:** 831

## Meanings
1. A written or printed message that you send to someone, usually by mail.
2. A written symbol that represents a sound in a language, such as A, B, or C.

## Examples
- I wrote a letter to my grandmother last week.
- There are twenty-six letters in the English alphabet.

## Synonyms
- bookstaff
- ltr

## Derived Forms
- airletter
- beletter
- black-letter
- bloodletter
- bye-letter
- four-letter
- greek-letter
- letter-box
- letter-carrier
- letter-high
- letter-perfect
- letter-quality

## Related Forms
- literacy
- literal
- literary
- literate
- literature

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: letter
- Root: letre
- Root: littera

## Etymology
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.

## AI Etymology
Letter comes 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.

## Topics
- Communication

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letter

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