letter

1. 1. A written symbol or character representing a speech sound and being a component of an alphabet.
   2. 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. A certified document granting rights to its bearer. Often used in the plural.
4. Literal meaning: had to adhere to the letter of the law.
5. letters (used with a sing. verb)
   1. Literary culture; belles-lettres.
   2. Learning or knowledge, especially of literature.
   3. Literature or writing as a profession.
6. Printing.
   1. A piece of type that prints a single character.
   2. A specific style of type.
   3. 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.

1. To write letters on.
2. To write in letters.

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

to the letter

1. 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.]

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

noun

A written communication directed to another: epistle, missive, note. See words.

Idioms beginning with letter:
letter of the law

In addition to the idiom beginning with letter, also see bread and butter letter; crank call (letter); dead letter; four-letter word; poison-pen letter; red-letter day; to the letter.

Definition: symbol of an alphabet
Antonyms: number

n

Definition: written communication
Antonyms: speech

letters 1. Greek. Letters attributed to famous Greeks which have survived from ancient times are almost all spurious. The most important surviving collections are those attributed to Isocrates, Plato, and Demosthenes. It is possible that none is genuine.

2. Latin. The Romans were great letter writers and important men in Cicero's time had among their slaves couriers (tabellarii) to deliver and collect letters, who might cover 80 km. (50 miles) a day. Cicero's voluminous correspondence seems to have been preserved in various ways. Atticus, Cicero's most intimate friend, to whom Cicero wrote in his own hand, kept the letters he received, as did Cicero's brother Quintus. His secretary Tiro appears to have kept copies of the letters Cicero sent to his various other friends, and these copies were collected and published after Cicero's death (see CICERO (1) 7 and TEXTS, TRANSMISSION OF ANCIENT 8). Nearly a hundred letters received by Cicero have also been preserved, providing an interesting contrast of styles. Most of the letters of the Younger Pliny, of which we have ten books, are more self-consciously composed for publication. See also SENECA (2).

The letter refers to the material substrate, identical to the printed character, that serves as the vehicle for spoken or written language. It represents the two sides of the signifier (metaphor and metonymy) in the creation of meaning and in the production of dreams, where the letter designates one of the terms of the rebus. As the localized structure of the signifier, the letter's nature is real, exclusive of sense or meaning. Its function is symbolic to the extent that its absence determines the automatism of repetition. The letter constitutes the unconscious to the extent that it is organized as a literal heterogeneous set.

Freud's first allusion to the letter and its function is found in his correspondence with Wilhelm Fliess on December 6, 1896 (1950a), where he describes a system of inscribing perceptions, in which the process of repression can be conceptualized as the erasure of an inscription. In the analysis of the Wolfman, Freud (1918b) returns to the letter and its workings. In 1927, in his article on fetishism (1927e), he shows how a patient's erotic life remains attached to a permutation of letters.

However Freud never really formulated a theory of the letter. Jacques Lacan in 1954-1957 (1966) provided a theoretical elaboration of the functioning of the letter to the extent that it—and it alone—constitutes the topography of the unconscious.

Several additional aspects of how the letter functions need to be distinguished: its situation within the articulation of the two essential tropes that govern language, metaphor, and metonymy (Roman Jakobson), and the function it plays in the dialectic of desire and the automatism of repetition. To explain these functions a few linguistic concepts are necessary.

Returning to the Saussurian algorithm, Lacan emphasized the impermeable nature of the bar that separates signifier and signified. Contrary to what is suggested by the illustration of the algorithm between the sound "tree" and its iconic representation, the unconscious does not acknowledge any univocal correspondence between a signifier and a signified, because the signifier only functions through its difference with other elements in the verbal chain. Because of these three factors access to meaning can only occur through metaphor or metonymy. Thus Freud discovered the processes of condensation (Verdichtung) and displacement (Verschiebung) in dreams. These two operations take place at the cost of eliding the signifier upon which they were originally based. This first obliterated signifier is automatically repressed as part of the natural operation of the production of meaning. By extension, we recognize in this the model of symptom formation as a fact associated with language. Within the differential coupling of signifiers as they occur in a language this first signifier, the indifferent point of departure for metaphor or metonymy, can be conceptualized as precipitated in the materiality of a letter that represents it in the chain of signifiers. This letter also prefigures the trace of the lost object and the lack that causes desire, for in metonymy the trace of the loss is transferred to the object of desire. This led Lacan to designate the object-cause of desire by the letter a. The letter thus has a symbolic function that overdetermines the unalterable principle of the automatism of repetition to the extent that a letter will always be missing, the very letter that represents the lost object.

Moreover, the impossibility of grasping the letter in its signification, its resistance to meaning, because it lies outside the signified, shows that in is essence the letter is real: It forms a hole in unconscious knowledge. Exploration of this hole in meaning using the real of the letter remains the nub of the unconscious in the experience of analysis.

Bibliography

Freud, Sigmund. (1918b). From the history of an infantile neurosis. SE, 17: 1-122.

——. (1927e). Fetishism. SE, 21: 147-157.

——. (1950a). Extracts from the Fliess papers, SE, 1: 173-280.

Lacan, Jacques. (1966)Écrits. Paris: Le Seuil.

—JEAN-PIERRE HILTENBRAND

Quotes:

"Never write a letter if you can help it, and never destroy one!" - Sir John A. Macdonald

"It does me good to write a letter which is not a response to a demand, a gratuitous letter, so to speak, which has accumulated in me like the waters of a reservoir." - Henry Miller

"A letter is an unannounced visit, the postman the agent of rude surprises. One ought to reserve an hour a week for receiving letters and afterwards take a bath." - Friedrich Nietzsche

"The word that is heard perishes, but the letter that is written remains." - Proverb

"Correspondences are like small clothes before the invention of suspenders; it is impossible to keep them up." - Sydney Smith

"I have received no more than one or two letters in my life that were worth the postage." - Henry David Thoreau

See more famous quotes about Letters

Dreaming about receiving and reading a letter can indicate either our intuitions or our fantasies about what the sender thinks about us. We send letters in a dream when we want to tell someone something. A dream letter can also be an allusion to certain idioms, from doing something "to the letter" to receiving a "Dear John letter."

A letter can refer to the following:

• Letter (alphabet), a grapheme, part of an alphabet, abjad, abugida, or syllabary
• Letter (message), correspondence, a written message
• Letter (paper size), the letter-size paper
• "Letters" can also mean literature, as in "arts and letters"
• Letterman, recipient of an award (letter) given to an interscholastic and/or intercollegiate student of merit in a sport, choir or band (also see varsity letter)
• Rehearsal letter in an orchestral score

Entertainment

• Letters, an album by Jimmy Webb
• Letters from Iwo Jima, a war film about the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of Japanese Imperial soldiers
• LETTERS, a novel by John Barth

Places

• Letter, Aberdeenshire, is a settlement in North-east Scotland
• Letter, County Fermanagh, a townland in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland
• Letters, Ross-shire, a small village on the coast of Loch Broom, Scotland.

See also

• The Letter

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - bogstav, brev, skrivelse, skrifttype
v. tr. - skrive, mærke med bogstaver
v. intr. - skrive, mærke med bogstaver

idioms:

• letter bomb    brevbombe
• letter box    brevkasse, postkasse
• letter carrier    postbud
• letter of application    ansøgning
• letter of comfort    trøstebrev
• letter of credit    kreditbrev, akkreditiv, rejseakkreditiv
• letter of intent    tilkendegivelse, erklæring, officiel erklæring
• letters of administration    tilladelse til forvaltning af arv
• letters patent    patent, patentbrev
• man of letters    administrative breve
• the letter of the law    lovens bogstav
• to the letter    til punkt og prikke, i alle detaljer, fuldstændig

Nederlands (Dutch)
brief, letter(type), (mv) letteren, (mv) academische kwalificaties, letters schrijven/ graveren, boek van omslag/rugtitel voorzien, classificeren door lettering, letterzetten

Français (French)
n. - lettre (de l'alphabet), document, lettre, courrier, , à la lettre, caractère d'imprimerie, (US, Sport) récompense sportive décernée par une école (sous la forme de son monogramme)
v. tr. - marquer avec des lettres (un objet), écrire en lettres, graver des lettres sur
v. intr. - marquer avec des lettres, écrire/former des lettres, gagner une récompense sportive

idioms:

• letter bomb    lettre piégée
• letter box    boîte aux lettres
• letter carrier    facteur
• letter of application    lettre de candidature
• letter of comfort    lettre de réconfort
• letter of credit    (Fin) lettre de crédit/de créance
• letter of intent    (Jur) lettre d'intention
• letters of administration    (Jur) lettres d'administration désignant l'administrateur, d'une personne décédée ab intestat
• letters patent    lettres de patente
• man of letters    homme de lettres
• the letter of the law    à la lettre, l'esprit de la loi, la lettre de la loi
• to the letter    à la lettre

Deutsch (German)
n. - Brief, Schreiben, Literatur, Type, (Sport)abzeichen, Buchstabe
v. - beschriften, mit Buchstaben kennzeichnen

idioms:

• letter bomb    Briefbombe
• letter box    Briefkasten
• letter carrier    Briefträger
• letter of application    Bewerbungsschreiben
• letter of comfort    Patronatserklärung
• letter of credit    Akkreditiv
• letter of intent    Absichtserklärung
• letters of administration    Nachlaßverwaltungserlaubnis
• letters patent    Patent
• man of letters    Literat
• the letter of the law    Buchstabe des Gesetzes
• to the letter    buchstabengetreu, aufs Wort

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - γράμμα, ψηφίο, στοιχείο, επιστολή
v. - χαράσσω γράμματα σε

idioms:

• letter bomb    βόμβα που περιέχεται σε φάκελο
• letter box    γραμματοκιβώτιο
• letter carrier    (ΗΠΑ) ταχυδρομικός διανομέας
• letter of application    αίτηση, επιστολή αιτήσεως
• letter of comfort    παρηγορητική επιστολή
• letter of credit    (οικον.) τραπεζική πίστωση, πιστωτική επιστολή
• letter of intent    (οικον.) επιστολή έκφρασης ενδιαφέροντος/πρόθεσης
• letters of administration    (νομ.) έγγραφο διορισμού διαχειριστή διαθήκης
• letters patent    τίτλος ευρεσιτεχνίας (κν. πατέντα)
• man of letters    άνθρωπος των γραμμάτων
• the letter of the law    το γράμμα του νόμου
• to the letter    κατά γράμμα

Italiano (Italian)
lettere, lettera

idioms:

• letter bomb    lettera esplosiva
• letter box    cassetta delle lettere
• letter carrier    postino
• letter of comfort    lettera di condoglianze
• letters of administration    procura
• letters patent    bolla di patente
• man of letters    letterato
• the letter of the law    la lettera della legge
• to the letter    alla lettera

Português (Portuguese)
n. - letra, carta
v. - marcar com letras, desenhar letras, inscrever o nome

idioms:

• letter bomb    carta-bomba
• letter box    caixa coletora de correspondência
• letter carrier    carteiro
• letter of comfort    carta de condolências
• letters of administration    cartas de administração
• letters patent    carta patente
• man of letters    erudito
• the letter of the law    palavras de lei exatas
• to the letter    ao pé da letra, exatamente

Русский (Russian)
буква, письмо, документ, арендодатель, помечать буквами

idioms:

• letter bomb    бомба в конверте, взрывающаяся при его открывании
• letter box    почтовый ящик
• letter carrier    почтальон
• letter of comfort    признание долга, законная гарантия, выдаваемая банку третьей стороной
• letters of administration    судебное полномочие на управление имуществом умершего
• letters patent    верительные грамоты
• man of letters    литератор
• the letter of the law    буква закона
• to the letter    точно, досконально

Español (Spanish)
n. - letras, carta, epístola, carácter, letra
v. tr. - rotular, estampar o marcar con letras
v. intr. - rotular, estampar o marcar con letras

idioms:

• letter bomb    carta-bomba
• letter box    buzón
• letter carrier    cartero
• letter of application    solicitud, carta de solicitud
• letter of comfort    carta de consuelo, informe favorable sobre una persona que ha solicitado un préstamo
• letter of credit    carta de crédito
• letter of intent    carta de intención
• letters of administration    facultad para administrar la hacienda de un intestado
• letters patent    patente de privilegio, ejecutoria de nobleza
• man of letters    hombre de letras, literato, letrado
• the letter of the law    la ley escrita, la letra de la ley
• to the letter    al pie de la letra

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - bokstav, ordalydelse, typ, stil, stilsats, brev, skrivelse, litteratur, vitterhet, bildning, lärdom, uthyrare
v. - sätta namn på, märka, klassificera, stämpla ryggtitel på

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
信, 证书, 字母, 写字母于, 加上标题, 将...刻于字母, 写印刷体字母

idioms:

• letter bomb    书信炸弹, 恐怖分子等装在信封内的爆炸物
• letter box    信箱
• letter carrier    邮递员
• letter of application    申请书
• letter of comfort    慰问信
• letter of credit    信用状
• letter of intent    合同之草约, 意向书
• letters of administration    遗产管理委任状
• letters patent    专利特许证
• man of letters    得奖运动员, 学者, 文人, 作家
• the letter of the law    法律条文
• to the letter    严格按照字句

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 信, 證書, 字母
v. tr. - 寫字母於, 加上標題, 將...刻於字母
v. intr. - 寫印刷體字母

idioms:

• letter bomb    書信炸彈, 恐怖分子等裝在信封內的爆炸物
• letter box    信箱
• letter carrier    郵差
• letter of application    申請書
• letter of comfort    慰問信
• letter of credit    信用狀
• letter of intent    合同之草約, 意向書
• letters of administration    遺產管理委任狀
• letters patent    專利特許證
• man of letters    得獎運動員, 學者, 文人, 作家
• the letter of the law    法律條文
• to the letter    嚴格按照字句

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 서한, 글자, 활자, 조문, 문학
v. tr. - 글자를 써넣다, 표제를 넣다, 인쇄하다
v. intr. - 문자를 넣다

idioms:

• the letter of the law    법률
• to the letter    세부사항을 잘 따라서

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 手紙, 書簡, 文字, 文字どおりの意味, 字句, 文学, 学問, 活字, 字体, 証書
v. - 文字を書き入れる, 表題を入れる

idioms:

• begging letter    無心の手紙
• letter bomb    手紙爆弾
• letter box    郵便ポスト, 郵便受け
• letter carrier    郵便集配人
• letter of application    願書
• letter of comfort    慰安書
• poison-pen letter    中傷の手紙
• the letter of the law    法律条文
• to the letter    文字どおりに

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) حرف أبجدي, رساله, الأدب, المعرفه أو الثقافه, المعنى الحرفي (فعل) يطبع, يكتب, ينقش‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מכתב, אות (בא"ב), תעודה, פירוש מילולי, סמל מורכב מראשי-תיבות של שם, ספרות, למידה, ידע, סיגנון מיוחד‬
v. tr. - ‮כתב באותיות, סימן באותיות‬
v. intr. - ‮זכה בסמל עם ראשי-התיבות של שמו בתחרות, ספרות‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.