letters

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let·ter

(lĕt′ər)

a. A written symbol or character representing a speech sound and being a component of an alphabet.

b. A written symbol or character used in the graphemic representation of a word, such as the h in Thames. See Note at Thames.

2. A written or printed communication directed to a person or organization.

3. often letters A certified document granting rights to its bearer.

4. Literal meaning: had to adhere to the letter of the law.

5. letters(used with a sing. verb)

a. Literary culture; belles-lettres.

b. Learning or knowledge, especially of literature.

c. Literature or writing as a profession.

6. Printing

a. A piece of type that prints a single character.

b. A specific style of type.

c. The characters in one style of type.

7. An emblem in the shape of the initial of a school awarded for outstanding performance, especially in varsity athletics.

v. let·tered, let·ter·ing, let·ters

v.tr.

1. To write letters on: lettered the paper.

2. To write in letters: lettered our name on the mailbox.

v.intr.

1. To write or form letters.

2. To earn a school letter, as for outstanding athletic achievement: She lettered in three collegiate sports.

Idiom:

to the letter

To the last detail; exactly: followed instructions to the letter.

[Middle English, from Old French lettre, from Latin littera, perhaps from Etruscan, from Greek diphtherā, hide, leather, writing surface.]

let′ter·er n.

Synonyms: letter, epistle, memorandum, missive, note
These nouns denote a written communication directed to another: received a letter of complaint; the Epistles of the New Testament; a memorandum outlining the attendance policy; a missive of condolence; a thank-you note.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

letters

(ˈlɛtəz)

n (functioning as plural or singular)

1. (Education) literary knowledge, ability, or learning: a man of letters.

2. (Education) literary culture in general

3. (Education) an official title, degree, etc, indicated by an abbreviation: letters after one's name.

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Letters

climb Parnassus To pursue the arts, particularly poetry; to court the Muses. Parnassus, a mountain in central Greece near Delphi, was sacred to Apollo and the Muses. It is thus identified with literary endeavors such as the Muses would inspire.

Grub Street Literary hacks or drudges collectively. This expression takes its name from Grub Street (now Milton Street) in London. The area was once a haven for poor, inferior writers and literary hacks. Grub Street, which dates from at least 1630, is also used adjectivally to mean ‘inferior, low-grade, poor.’ Ralph Waldo Emerson used the expression in this passage from Society and Solitude:

Now and then, by rarest luck, in some foolish Grub Street is the gem we want.

hack A drudge, especially a literary one; a writer or artist who denies his creative talent and does inferior, unoriginal, dull work in an effort to attain commercial and financial success. An abbreviation of hackney, this term originally referred to a horse for hire as well as to the driver of a hackney coach or carriage. This last meaning of hackgave rise to the term’s current meaning.

potboiler An inferior literary or artistic work executed solely for the purpose of boiling the pot ‘earning a living’; a literary or artistic hack, such as produces potboilers.

Such … was the singular and even prosaic origin of the “Ancient Mariner” … surely the most sublime of “potboilers” to be found in all literature. (Henry Duff Traill, Coleridge, 1884)

letters

[ˈlɛtəz] npl (Literature) man of letters → uomo di lettere

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

References in classic literature ?

There were the familiar letters which told me that the nightgown was mine.

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For more than a week preparations were being made, rough drafts of letters to Nicholas from all the household were written and copied out, while under the supervision of the countess and the solicitude of the count, money and all things necessary for the uniform and equipment of the newly commissioned officer were collected.

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Two days after the marriage--on Wednesday, the ninth of September a packet of letters, received at Windygates, was forwarded by Lady Lundie's steward to Ham Farm.

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Besides the letter from Cecilia (directed to the care of Sir Jervis Redwood), she had received some lines addressed to her by Sir Jervis himself.

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Most of the spectators testified to having seen, on the breast of the unhappy minister, a SCARLET LETTER -- the very semblance of that worn by Hester Prynne -- imprinted in the flesh.

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"Wait, then." And the young king began to write the following letter, which cost him more than one sigh, although, at the same time, something like a feeling of triumph glittered in his eyes:

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Then, again, had that letter from New Orleans, which had necessitated Mr.

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When Betty was departed, Mrs Miller said, "I was desired, madam, by a very unhappy young gentleman, to deliver you this letter." Sophia changed colour when she saw the direction, well knowing the hand, and after some hesitation, said--"I could not conceive, madam, from your appearance, that your business had been of such a nature.--Whomever you brought this letter from, I shall not open it.

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"Have you a letter of audience?" asked a porter, advancing to the new arrival.

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Martin had been there an hour before, and finding she was not at home, nor particularly expected, had left a little parcel for her from one of his sisters, and gone away; and on opening this parcel, she had actually found, besides the two songs which she had lent Elizabeth to copy, a letter to herself; and this letter was from him, from Mr.

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"If the telegram mean anything," he wrote, "it means that the fragments of the torn letter have been cast into the housemaid's bucket (along with the dust, the ashes, and the rest of the litter in the room), and have been emptied on the dust-heap at Gleninch.

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"Let me give you the letter," I answered, "and you can decide for yourself whether you will use it or not."

Noun	1.	letters - the literary culture; "this book shows American letters at its best" culture - the tastes in art and manners that are favored by a social group
	2.	letters - scholarly attainment; "he is a man of letters" encyclopaedism, encyclopedism, eruditeness, erudition, learnedness, learning, scholarship - profound scholarly knowledge