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littera

Etymology and origin of the Latin word littera

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Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
Naevius

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈlɪt.tɛ.ra][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈlit.te.ra][1]

Forms

littera f (genitive litterae); first declension[1] The spelling lītera is also found, and an inscription has leiteras.[2][3]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[3][4][1] Walde and Hofmann derived it from *lītes-ā, from an adjective of the root of linō “to smear”, “a smeared sign”; de Vaan rejects this on grounds of form.[3] The OLD gives the link with linō as possible.[2] Wiktionary mentions a borrowing of Ancient Greek διφθέρα (diphthéra, “prepared hide”) through Etruscan.[1] Marius Victorinus explained it as “legitera”, because it gives the reader a path.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Naevius onwards.[3][5] In Plautus a slave retorts, “you call me names, you three-letter man?”, that is, fur “thief”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant a letter of the alphabet and a written character; on voting tablets A was the “saving letter” and C the “grim” one.[2][6] In the plural litterae were the ABC, a few lines of writing, writing as opposed to speech, documents and records, and a letter or dispatch, as Plautus' “what does this letter say?”[2]

It also meant literature and learning, as in Cicero.[2] Medieval writers used it for the dominical letter of the calendar,[7] music theorists for the letter-names of notes,[8] and Neo-Latin scholars for the text as opposed to a commentary.[9] It survives as Italian lettera, French lettre, Spanish and Portuguese letra and Romanian literă.[1] English letter came from Old French about 1200, and literature in the early 15th century.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.[3][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for letters of the alphabet and for a letter.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for writing, documents and learning.[2][5]
  • c. 1200 – English letter is first recorded.[10]
  • early 15th century – English literature is first recorded.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A letter (of the alphabet); a written character.[2][11]
  2. (plural) The elements of learning, the ABC.[2]
  3. A line of writing.[2]
  4. (plural) Writing; a document, record.[2][1]
  5. (plural) A letter, dispatch.[2][1]
  6. (plural) Literature; learning.[2][1]
  7. (Medieval Latin, music) A letter-name of a note.[8]

Word family

  • litterālis
  • litterārius
  • litterātiō
  • litterātor
  • litteratrix
  • litterātūra
  • litterātus
  • litterio
  • litterōsus
  • litterula
  • litterātim
  • English letter
  • English literature
  • English literal

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes litterae, the general word for a letter, from epistula, one sent to a distant friend, and codicilli, a note to someone in the same town.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz
  9. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
  10. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  12. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
Cite this entry

“Littera.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/littera. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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