Skip to main content
PlainSpell

letter

let·ter/ˈlɛtɚ/noun, verb

letter is spelled L-E-T-T-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables (let·ter). It appears 89 times per million words in written English, the 1,191st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, letter means “A symbol in an alphabet” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of letter is letters.

How many letters and syllables are in letter?

Letters6: L-E-T-T-E-R
Syllables2: let·ter
In writing89 times per million words; the 1,191st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is letter?

Letter appears 89 times per million words in written English, the 1,191st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce letter?

  • UK /ˈlɛtə/
  • US /ˈlɛtɚ/
  • US [-ɾɚ]

Letter has 2 syllables, split let·ter in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-letter.ogg, En-us-letter.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with letter

Also written: litter, varsity letter.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with letter?

9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as letter from its last stressed vowel (/ɛtəɹ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of letter

  • letters plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • lettering participle, present
  • lettered participle, past
  • lettor

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does letter mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A symbol in an alphabet.

    There are twenty-six letters in the English alphabet.

  2. 2

    A written or printed communication, usually defined as longer and more formal than a note. (Sometimes specifically one that is on paper.)

    I wrote a letter to my sister about my life.

  3. 3

    The literal meaning of something, as distinguished from its intended and remoter meaning (the spirit).

  4. 4

    Literature.

    Benjamin Franklin was multiskilled – a scientist, politician and a man of letters.

  5. 5

    A division unit of a piece of law marked by a letter of the alphabet.

    Letter (b) constitutes an exception to this provision.

  6. 6

    USA size of paper, 8½ in × 11 in (215.9 mm × 279.4 mm).

  7. 7

    CanadaA size of paper, 215 mm × 280 mm.

  8. 8

    USClipping of varsity letter.

  9. 9

    One who lets, or lets out.

    the letter of a room

  10. 10

    archaicOne who retards or hinders.

verb

  1. 1

    To print, inscribe, or paint letters on something.

  2. 2

    USTo earn a varsity letter (award).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate letter?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of letter: ltr.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Letter in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchlettre, caractère (a symbol in an alphabet)
GermanBuchstabe, Letter (a symbol in an alphabet), Brief (written message – see also missive)
Portugueseletra (a symbol in an alphabet), carta (written message – see also missive)
Spanishletra, carácter (a symbol in an alphabet), carta (written message – see also missive)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does letter come from?

From Middle English letter, lettre, from Old French letre, from Latin littera (“letter of the alphabet"; in plural, "epistle”). Displaced Old English bōcstæf (literally “book staff”) in sense 1 and ǣrendġewrit (literally “message writing”) in sense 2.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after letter