Etymograph

English

letter

Letter comes from Middle English letter, from Old French letre, from Latin littera ‘letter of the alphabet; (plural) epistle’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElittera1‘letter of the alphabet; (plural) epistle’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400letre1
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500letter1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1611letter1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English letter
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And a superscription also was written ouer him in…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElitteraWiktionary, English letter‘letter of the alphabet; (plural) epistle’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400letreWiktionary, English letter
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500letterWiktionary, English letter
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1611letterWiktionary, English letter. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And a superscription also was written ouer him in…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with letter, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Latin littera ‘letter of the alphabet"’

8 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of letter

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500letere
  2. Englishtodayletter

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Today it means

noun A symbol in an alphabet.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “letter”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin littera / letter