Letter vs. Alphabet

Letternoun

A symbol in an alphabet.

‘There are twenty-six letters in the English alphabet.’;

Alphabetnoun

The set of letters used when writing in a language.

‘The Greek alphabet has only twenty-four letters.’; ‘In the first year of school, pupils are taught to recite the alphabet.’;

Letternoun

A written or printed communication, generally longer and more formal than a note.

‘I wrote a letter to my sister about my life.’;

Alphabetnoun

A writing system in which letters represent phonemes. Contrast e.g. logography, a writing system in which each character represents a word, and syllabary, in which each character represents a syllable.

Letternoun

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

Alphabetnoun

A writing system in which there are letters for the consonant and vowel phonemes. Contrast e.g. abjad.

Letternoun

Literature.

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

Alphabetnoun

(computer science) A typically finite set of distinguishable symbols.

‘Let $L$ be a regular language over the alphabet $\backslash Sigma$.’;

Letternoun

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

‘Letter (b) constitutes an exception to this provision.’;

Alphabetnoun

An individual letter of an alphabet; an alphabetic character.

Letternoun

A size of paper, 8½ in × 11 in (215.9 mm × 279.4 mm, US paper sizes rounded to the nearest 5 mm).

Alphabetnoun

The simplest rudiments; elements.

Letternoun

A size of paper, 215 mm × 280 mm.

Alphabetverb

(rare) To designate by the letters of the alphabet; to arrange alphabetically.

Letternoun

clipping of varsity letter

Alphabetnoun

The letters of a language arranged in the customary order; the series of letters or signs which form the elements of written language.

Letternoun

A single type; type, collectively; a style of type.

Alphabetnoun

The simplest rudiments; elements.

‘The very alphabet of our law.’;

Letternoun

One who lets, or lets out.

‘the letter of a room’; ‘a blood-letter’;

Alphabetverb

To designate by the letters of the alphabet; to arrange alphabetically.

Letternoun

(archaic) One who retards or hinders.

Alphabetnoun

a character set that includes letters and is used to write a language

Letterverb

(transitive) To print, inscribe, or paint letters on something.

Alphabetnoun

the elementary stages of any subject (usually plural);

‘he mastered only the rudiments of geometry’;

Letterverb

To earn a varsity letter (award).

Alphabet

An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written symbols or graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syllable, for instance, and logographic systems use characters to represent words, morphemes, or other semantic units.The first fully phonemic script, the Proto-Canaanite script, later known as the Phoenician alphabet, is considered to be the first alphabet, and is the ancestor of most modern alphabets, including Arabic, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and possibly Brahmic.

Letternoun

One who lets or permits; one who lets anything for hire.

Letternoun

One who retards or hinders.

Letternoun

A mark or character used as the representative of a sound, or of an articulation of the human organs of speech; a first element of written language.

‘And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew.’;

Letternoun

A written or printed communication; a message expressed in intelligible characters on something adapted to conveyance, as paper, parchment, etc.; an epistle.

‘The style of letters ought to be free, easy, and natural.’;

Letternoun

A writing; an inscription.

‘None could expound what this letter meant.’;

Letternoun

Verbal expression; literal statement or meaning; exact signification or requirement.

‘We must observe the letter of the law, without doing violence to the reason of the law and the intention of the lawgiver.’; ‘I broke the letter of it to keep the sense.’;

Letternoun

A single type; type, collectively; a style of type.

‘Under these buildings . . . was the king's printing house, and that famous letter so much esteemed.’;

Letternoun

Learning; erudition; as, a man of letters.

Letternoun

A letter; an epistle.

Letternoun

A telegram longer than an ordinary message sent at rates lower than the standard message rate in consideration of its being sent and delivered subject to priority in service of regular messages. Such telegrams are called by the Western Union Company day letters, or night letters according to the time of sending, and by The Postal Telegraph Company day lettergrams, or night lettergrams.

‘A strange lock that opens with AMEN.’;

Letterverb

To impress with letters; to mark with letters or words; as, a book gilt and lettered.

Letternoun

a written message addressed to a person or organization;

‘mailed an indignant letter to the editor’;

Letternoun

the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech;

‘his grandmother taught him his letters’;

Letternoun

a strictly literal interpretation (as distinct from the intention);

‘he followed instructions to the letter’; ‘he obeyed the letter of the law’;

Letternoun

an award earned by participation in a school sport;

‘he won letters in three sports’;

Letternoun

owner who lets another person use something (housing usually) for hire

Letterverb

win an athletic letter

Letterverb

set down or print with letters

Letterverb

mark letters on or mark with letters

Letternoun

a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet

‘a capital letter’;

Letternoun

the initials of a degree or other qualification

‘your personality matters far more than letters after your name’;

Letternoun

a school or college initial as a mark of proficiency, especially in sport

‘a letter jacket’;

Letternoun

a written, typed, or printed communication, sent in an envelope by post or messenger

‘he sent a letter to Mrs Falconer’;

Letternoun

a legal or formal document.

Letternoun

the precise terms of a statement or requirement; the strict verbal interpretation

‘we must keep the spirit of the law as well as the letter’; ‘the officer in the incident got in trouble for following the letter of the law’;

Letternoun

literature

‘the world of letters’;

Letternoun

scholarly knowledge; erudition.

Letternoun

a style of typeface.

Letterverb

inscribe letters or writing on

‘her name was lettered in gold’;

Letterverb

classify with letters

‘he numbered and lettered the paragraphs’;

Letterverb

be given a school or college initial as a mark of proficiency in sport

‘in high school she lettered in soccer, basketball and softball’;