WordWeb Online

1. The literary culture
   "this book shows American letters at its best"
    
2. Scholarly attainment
   "he is a man of letters"

1. A written message addressed to a person or organization
   "mailed an indignant letter to the editor";
   - missive
    
2. A character of the alphabet used in writing
   "his grandmother taught him his letters";
   - letter of the alphabet, alphabetic character
    
3. Owner who lets another person use something (housing usually) for hire
    
4. A strictly literal interpretation (as distinct from the intention)
   "he followed instructions to the letter"; "he obeyed the letter of the law"
    
5. [N. Amer] An award earned by participation in a school sport
   "he won letters in three sports";
   - varsity letter [N. Amer]

1. [N. Amer] Win an athletic letter
    
2. Set down or print with letters
    
3. Mark letters on or mark with letters

Derived forms: letterses

Type of: accolade, award, character, culture, document, earn, encyclopaedism [Brit], encyclopedism, eruditeness, erudition, garner, graph, grapheme, graphic symbol, honor [US], honour [Brit, Cdn], impress, laurels, learnedness, learning, literal interpretation, owner, print, proprietor, scholarship, text, textual matter, win, write

Part of: ABC, ABCs, ABC's, alphabet, correspondence, mail, spelling

Encyclopedia: Letters, Riddles and Writs