letra

Forms

letra f (plural letras)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin littera (“letter of the alphabet”), recorded from the beginnings of the language.^[2][3][4][1] The same word is Portuguese letra, Asturian lletra, Catalan lletra, Occitan letra, French lettre and Italian lettera.^[5][6][7] The sense “letter, missive”, which Latin had in the plural, is found in the singular in the Romance languages too.^[6] The sense “bill of exchange”, recorded from 1547, imitates the Italian word, where the sense is found from the end of the 14th century.^[2][3]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^[1][8] Wiktionary and Nocentini derive it, perhaps through Etruscan, from Ancient Greek διφθέρα (diphthéra, “prepared hide, parchment”), since the Romans took their writing from the Greeks;^[1][9] Nocentini says that Peruzzi confirmed the idea.^[1][9] Walde–Hofmann's derivation from linō (“to smear”) (“a smeared sign”) is called morphologically unconvincing by de Vaan.^[8]

Latin short /i/ became /e/ and the double /tt/ became /t/;^[10] Berceo's glossary explains the loss of the unstressed vowel from Vulgar Latin letera.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, known from a 14th-century copy) says of Bishop Jerónimo that he was bien entendido es de letras “well versed in letters”.^[11][2] The first hit in a contemporary manuscript is a document of litigation of c. 1218, in which the plural letras means a written order or letter from a superior.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The plural letras “letter, missive” is in the Libro de Alexandre, and Nebrija still admitted the singular in this sense.^[2] Alfonso X used letra for the written sign, for the literal sense of a text, for a written paper and for handwriting.^[12] In Berceo the plural also names the liberal arts, learning taught at school.^[10] The Quijote has al pie de la letra “word for word”.^[13]

The Autoridades defined the letter as a sign that forms words, the hand of a writer, and a written letter.^[14] Today the word also names a printing type, the words of a song, a bill of exchange (letra de cambio), a verse composition with glosses, and in the plural the humanities as opposed to the sciences.^[4] In Cuban religions of African origin letra is the good or bad fortune foretold for a period.^[15] In New Mexican folk plays a letra is a sung strophe.^[16]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – letras “learning” in the Cantar de mio Cid (14th-century copy).^[11][2][3]
• c. 1218 – letras “a written order” in a document of litigation.^[11]
• 1220–1250 – the derivative letrado in Berceo.^[2][3]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it for script and handwriting.^[12]
• 1525 – first record from the Americas, in Mexico City.^[17]
• 1547 – first record of the sense “bill of exchange”, after Italian.^[2][3]
• 1611 – Covarrubias gives several fanciful etymologies of Latin litera.^[18]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology Del lat. littera.^[19]

Meanings

Noun

1. A letter, each of the written signs of an alphabet.^[4][1]
2. In traditional grammar, each of the sounds of a language.^[4]
3. Handwriting; the form of writing of a person, period or country: No entiendo tu letra.^[4][1]
4. A printing type.^[4]
5. The literal sense of a text, as against the figurative.^[4]
6. The lyrics of a song.^[4][1]
7. A bill of exchange; an instalment of a loan.^[4][1]
8. (prosody) A poem with glosses in verse.^[4]
9. (colloquial, rare) Shrewdness, cunning.^[4]
10. (obsolete) A letter, missive (now carta).^[4]
11. (in the plural) Learning; the humanities, as against the sciences.^[4]

Word family

• letrado
• letrero
• letrilla
• deletrear
• juntaletras

Related words

• literatura
• literal
• Latin littera

Usage notes

Set phrases include al pie de la letra “to the letter”, bellas letras “literature” and cuatro letras “a short note”.^[4][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 636
3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. letra
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. letra
5. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 3919
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5087
7. ^ Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. lletra
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. littera
9. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier, p. s.v. lettera
10. ^ a b c Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. 438
11. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. letra
12. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. letra
13. ^ a b Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. 667
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 388
15. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. letra
16. ^ Cobos, Rubén (1983), A Dictionary of New Mexico and Southern Colorado Spanish, Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, p. 118
17. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. letra
18. ^ Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1081
19. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 639