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Sending a handwritten letter is becoming such an anomaly. It's disappearing. My mom is the only one who still writes me letters. And there's something visceral about opening a letter - I see her on the page. I see her in her handwriting.
Steve Carell

Meaning of "letter" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD LETTER

From Old French lettre, from Latin littera letter of the alphabet.
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Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF LETTER

letter  [ˈlɛtə] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF LETTER

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Letter is a verb and can also act as a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb letter in English.

WHAT DOES LETTER MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Definition of letter in the English dictionary

The first definition of letter in the dictionary is 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. Other definition of letter is a written or printed communication addressed to a person, company, etc, usually sent by post in an envelope related adjective epistolary. Letter is also a style of typeface.


CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO LETTER

PRESENT

Present
I letter
you letter
he/she/it letters
we letter
you letter
they letter
Present continuous
I am lettering
you are lettering
he/she/it is lettering
we are lettering
you are lettering
they are lettering
Present perfect
I have lettered
you have lettered
he/she/it has lettered
we have lettered
you have lettered
they have lettered
Present perfect continuous
I have been lettering
you have been lettering
he/she/it has been lettering
we have been lettering
you have been lettering
they have been lettering
Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past
I lettered
you lettered
he/she/it lettered
we lettered
you lettered
they lettered
Past continuous
I was lettering
you were lettering
he/she/it was lettering
we were lettering
you were lettering
they were lettering
Past perfect
I had lettered
you had lettered
he/she/it had lettered
we had lettered
you had lettered
they had lettered
Past perfect continuous
I had been lettering
you had been lettering
he/she/it had been lettering
we had been lettering
you had been lettering
they had been lettering
Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future
I will letter
you will letter
he/she/it will letter
we will letter
you will letter
they will letter
Future continuous
I will be lettering
you will be lettering
he/she/it will be lettering
we will be lettering
you will be lettering
they will be lettering
Future perfect
I will have lettered
you will have lettered
he/she/it will have lettered
we will have lettered
you will have lettered
they will have lettered
Future perfect continuous
I will have been lettering
you will have been lettering
he/she/it will have been lettering
we will have been lettering
you will have been lettering
they will have been lettering
The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional
I would letter
you would letter
he/she/it would letter
we would letter
you would letter
they would letter
Conditional continuous
I would be lettering
you would be lettering
he/she/it would be lettering
we would be lettering
you would be lettering
they would be lettering
Conditional perfect
I would have letter
you would have letter
he/she/it would have letter
we would have letter
you would have letter
they would have letter
Conditional perfect continuous
I would have been lettering
you would have been lettering
he/she/it would have been lettering
we would have been lettering
you would have been lettering
they would have been lettering
Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative
you letter
we let´s letter
you letter
The imperative is used to form commands or requests.
NONFINITE VERB FORMS
Infinitive
to letter
Past participle
lettered
Present Participle
lettering
Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH LETTER


betta
ˈbɛtə
better
ˈbɛtə
burletta
bɜːˈlɛtə
cabaletta
ˌkæbəˈlɛtə
debtor
ˈdɛtə
feta
ˈfɛtə
getter
ˈɡɛtə
mantelletta
ˌmæntɪˈlɛtə
muleta
mjuːˈlɛtə
newsletter
ˈnjuːzˌlɛtə
petter
ˈpɛtə
reletter
riːˈlɛtə
Rosetta
rəʊˈzɛtə
setter
ˈsɛtə
subletter
sʌbˈlɛtə
sweater
ˈswɛtə
underletter
ˈʌndəˌlɛtə
Valetta
vəˈlɛtə
Valletta
vəˈlɛtə
vendetta
vɛnˈdɛtə

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE LETTER

lettable
letter bomb
letter box
letter card
letter of acknowledgement
letter of advice
letter of attorney
letter of credence
letter of credit
letter of intent
letter of introduction
letter of marque
letter of marque and reprisal
letter of request
letter opener
letter paper
letter quality
letter rogatory
letter-high
letter-perfect

WORDS THAT END LIKE LETTER

chain letter
cover letter
fetter
for that matter
for the better
form letter
go one better
had better
love letter
open letter
regretter
small letter
the better
the letter
to the letter
trendsetter
typesetter
upsetter
vetter
wetter
with a capital letter

Synonyms and antonyms of letter in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

SYNONYMS OF «LETTER»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «letter» and belong to the same grammatical category.
synonyms of letter

Translation of «letter» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF LETTER

Find out the translation of letter to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of letter from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «letter» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

字母
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

letra
570 millions of speakers

English

letter
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

पत्र
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

حَرْفٌ
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

буква
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

letra
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

চিঠি
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

lettre
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Surat
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Buchstabe
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

文字
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

글자
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Huruf
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

chữ cái
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

கடிதம்
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

पत्र
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

mektup
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

lettera
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

litera
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

літера
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

literă
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

γράμμα
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

brief
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

bokstav
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

bokstav
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of letter

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «LETTER»

The term «letter» is very widely used and occupies the 2.749 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Very widely used
98
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «letter» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of letter
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «letter».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «LETTER» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «letter» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «letter» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about letter

EXAMPLES

10 QUOTES WITH «LETTER»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word letter.
1
Goodman Ace
I would have answered your letter sooner, but you didn't send one.
2
Steve Albini
Make no mistake about it: once a band has signed a letter of intent, they will either eventually sign a contract that suits the label or they will be destroyed.
3
Kevin J. Anderson
I'm talking to you and it's basically a direct communication, whereas if I'm writing a letter to you and you read the letter, there are like 12 extra deconstruction and reconstruction steps in the communication.
4
Jami Attenberg
I do not mourn the death of the printed letter in a snobby, East Coast, patrician way - 'Where have our manners gone?' - but because I love objects, I love paper, and I love something that I can hold to my chest for a moment. Still, I bear no grudge against the e-mail form itself.
5
Fredrik Bajer
We have had such a letter movement on two occasions in Denmark when more than a quarter of the adult Danish population participated. Such an achievement, however, demands a really great effort and also a great deal of money.
6
Nina Bawden
I was cleaning out the pigsty at a farm in Wales, where my mother had rented a room, when the results of my final school exam were handed to me by the postman, along with the news that I had a state scholarship to Oxford. I had waited for this letter for so many weeks that I had abandoned hope, deciding that I had failed ignominiously.
7
James Caan
Saving a letter from an old friend doesn't exist anymore. Everything is texted or emailed.
8
Alex Campbell
My friends all regarded me as a man of unsound mind because I held the view that my wife was with me in spirit always. I have lived with her spirit guiding me every day and she is with me now as I write this letter, and helps me to do as I am now doing.
9
Steve Carell
Sending a handwritten letter is becoming such an anomaly. It's disappearing. My mom is the only one who still writes me letters. And there's something visceral about opening a letter - I see her on the page. I see her in her handwriting.
10
Billy Collins
The pen is an instrument of discovery rather than just a recording implement. If you write a letter of resignation or something with an agenda, you're simply using a pen to record what you have thought out.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «LETTER»

Discover the use of letter in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to letter and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Letter by Letter: An Alphabetical Miscellany
Written as an homage, this lovingly illustrated book takes abroad approach to the modern alphabet, allowing the reader to see letters anew, in a fresh and lively manner guaranteed toinform and enchant anyone interested in typography and ...
Laurent Pflughaupt, 2007
2
The Scarlet Letter
Enriched Classics enhance your engagement by introducing and explaining the historical and cultural significance of the work, the author’s personal history, and what impact this book had on subsequent scholarship.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, 2004
3
Letter Writing as a Social Practice
This book explores the social significance of letter writing. Letter writing is one of the most pervasive literate activities in human societies, crossing formal and informal contexts.
David Barton, Nigel Hall, 2000
4
Letter to my Father
This letter is the closest that Kafka came to setting down his autobiography. He was driven to write it by his father's opposition to his engagement with Julie Wohryzek. The marriage did not take place; the letter was not delivered.
Franz Kafka, Howard Colyer, 2008
5
Letter-Writing Manuals And Instruction from Antiquity to the ...
In this volume they gather the contributions of eleven experts to sketch the contours of epistolary theory and collect the historic and bibliographic materials -- from Isocrates to email -- that form the basis for its study.
Carol Poster, Linda C. Mitchell, 2007
6
Instant Recommendation Letter Kit - How to Write Winning ...
All owners of the Kit get a SPECIAL E-MAIL ADDRESS AT WHICH THEY CAN ORDER A FREE SET OF ALL 67 OF THE LETTER TEMPLATES from the main book, which they can then download into their word processor and work with (MS-Word).
Shaun Fawcett, 2005
7
A Letter in the Scroll: Understanding Our Jewish Identity ...
This is the story of one man's hope for the future -- a future in which the next generation, his children and ours, will happily embrace the beauty of the world's oldest religion.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, 2004
8
So Long a Letter
An intense and poised novel in the form of a letter written by Ramatoulaye, who has recently been widowed.
Mariama Bâ, 1989
9
Letter Writing
The contributions in this book discuss letter-writing from 1400 to 1800, and the material studied ranges from the late medieval Paston Letters and the correspondence between Sweden and the German Hanse to Early Modern English family letters ...
Terttu Nevalainen, Sanna-Kaisa Tanskanen, 2007
10
Writing Gender in Women's Letter Collections of the Italian ...
Writing Gender in Women's Letter Collections of the Italian Renaissance examines the letter collections of women writers, arguing that these works were a studied performance of pervasive ideas about gender as well as genre, a form of self ...
Meredith K. Ray, 2009

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «LETTER»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term letter is used in the context of the following news items.
1
New Brighton activist's letter 'perfectly expresses' harm Grimm …
linda-winkler.jpg Linda Winkler, of New Brighton, as seen in this February 2012 file photo, penned a letter to U.S. District Judge Pamela K. «SILive.com, Jul 15»
2
NHS: Junior doctor's open letter to David Cameron goes viral - UK …
A junior doctor's damning open letter to the Prime Minister highlighting NHS workers' low pay and long hours has been shared online more ... «The Independent, Jul 15»
3
Relieve The Duties Of A Letter: Make Believe, And Make It Better …
On-air challenge: Today's puzzle has a bit of wordplay. Change one letter in each word provided to make two new words. The letter you change ... «NPR, Jul 15»
4
FDA Warning Letter: California Seafood Importer | Food Safety News
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent a formal warning letter June 17, 2015, regarding significant food safety violations to a ... «Food Safety News, Jul 15»
5
Talasani Didn't Even Submit Quit Letter to Assembly Speaker …
Displaying the letter from the Assembly Secretariat at a press conference here, Reddy said he had filed an RTI application on June 29 seeking ... «The New Indian Express, Jul 15»
6
Bill Winters' letter to Standard Chartered staff - FT.com
Bill Winters' letter to staff. Today I'm announcing our new management team to lead and run the bank. Our task is to reposition our great ... «Financial Times, Jul 15»
7
The Open 2015 - An open letter to bosses everywhere on why golf …
Want to skip work Monday to watch The Open finale? Jason Sobel has crafted the perfect letter for your boss. «ESPN, Jul 15»
8
Letter: Give pact a chance | Boston Herald
A nuclear deal with Iran is great for America, because it decreases the risk of the U.S. getting into a new Middle East war (July 14). For his part ... «Boston Herald, Jul 15»
9
Letter: There's no need to label everything as 'historic' - Opinion …
There's no need to label everything as 'historic'. May I suggest that the media stop enabling politicians and other self-promoters from labeling ... «Buffalo News, Jul 15»
10
Understand history, understand each other: Letter
On July 5, 1805, a young woman named Lydia had been bent over picking cotton in a South Carolina field for 15 hours, carrying her three ... «Jackson Clarion Ledger, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Letter [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/letter>. Apr 2024 ».
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