Etymologically
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letter

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈlet.ə/, US /ˈlet̬.ɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English lettre,[2][3] borrowed from Old French lettre (“character, letter; missive; in the plural, literature, learning”),[4][3] from Latin littera (“letter of the alphabet”), also litera,[4][3] whose plural litterae meant “an epistle, written documents, literature, learning”.[3][2] The Latin word is of uncertain origin.[4] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster relate it to Latin linere “to smear”.[3][2] Watkins proposed a borrowing via Etruscan from Greek diphthérā “tablet”,[4] but Barnhart thinks this theory has everything against it, both the change of d- to l- and the early Latin spelling leitera.[3] The verb is from the noun.[3][4] The same Latin word gave literal, literature, illiterate and alliteration.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Knowledge of reading and writing, book learning: probably about 1150;[3] an alphabetic sign, and a written message, from probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Both Latin senses, a written message and a letter of the alphabet, came into English.[5] The alphabetic sense replaced Old English bōcstæf, literally “book-staff” (German Buchstabe),[4] and the sense “epistle” replaced Old English ǣrendġewrit, literally “errand-writing”.[4] The plural letters, “literature, learning”, follows the Latin.[4][6] In printing a letter is a piece of type, from 1563.[7] A university degree shown by initials after a name is from 1888, and the cloth letter given as an award in school sports is attested by 1908, said to have begun with the University of Chicago football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg.[4] The verb first meant “to instruct”, in the mid-15th century, now obsolete,[4][7] and “to mark with letters” from 1668.[3][7]

Timeline

  • c. 1150 – book learning.[3]
  • before 1200 – alphabetic sign; written message.[3]
  • mid-15th century – verb, to instruct.[4]
  • 1563 – printing type.[7]
  • 1668 – verb, to mark with letters.[3][7]
  • 1888 – a university degree, as initials.[4]
  • 1908 – a school sports award.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A written symbol representing a speech sound, one of the characters of an alphabet.
  2. A written or printed message addressed to a person or organization, usually sent by post.
  3. An official document granting rights, as letters patent.
  4. The literal meaning of something: the letter of the law.
  5. letters: literature; learning.
  6. (US) A cloth letter, the initial of a school, awarded for achievement in sports.

Verb

  1. To write or mark letters on.
  2. (US) To win a school letter in sports.

Word family

  • letterer
  • letterless
  • literacy
  • literal
  • literary
  • literate
  • literature
  • illiterate
  • alliteration
  • obliterate

Usage notes

A separate letter, “one who lets”, as of property, is from 1552, and as part of compounds such as blood-letter from about 1400.[7][2] An obsolete letter, “one who hinders”, is from another verb let, “to hinder”.[7]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press