Letter, letters, or literature may refer to:

Characters typeface

Letter (alphabet) In a writing system, a letter is a grapheme that generally corresponds to a phoneme—the smallest functional unit of speech—though there is rarely total one-to-one correspondence between the two. An alphabet is a writing system that uses lett ...

, a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech or none in the case of a silent letter; any of the symbols of an alphabet *

Letterform A letterform, letter-form or letter form is a term used especially in typography, palaeography, calligraphy and epigraphy to mean a letter (alphabet), letter's shape. A letterform is a type of glyph, which is a specific, concrete way of writing a ...

, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabet, either as written or in a particular type font * Rehearsal letter in an orchestral score

Communication

Letter (message) A letter is a written message conveyed from one person (or group of people) to another through a medium. Something epistolary means that it is a form of letter writing. The term usually excludes written material intended to be read in its origina ...

, a form of written communication **

Mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

* Letters, the collected correspondence of a writer or historically significant person **

Pauline epistles The Pauline epistles, also known as Epistles of Paul or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen books of the New Testament attributed to Paul the Apostle, although the authorship of some is in dispute. Among these epistles are some of the earliest ext ...

, addressed by St. Paul to various communities or congregations, such as "Letters to the Galatians" or "Letters to the Corinthians", and part of the canonical books of the Bible ** Maktubat (disambiguation), the Arabic word for collected letters * The letter as a form of second-person literature; see

Epistle An epistle (; ) is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The ...

Epistulae (Pliny) The ''Epistulae'' (, "letters") are a series of personal missives by Pliny the Younger directed to his friends and associates. These Latin letters are a unique testimony of Roman Empire, Roman administrative history and everyday life in the 1st ...

Epistolary novel An epistolary novel () is a novel written as a series of letters between the fictional characters of a narrative. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse other kinds of fictional document with the letters, most commonly di ...

, a long-form fiction composed of letters (epistles) *

Open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

, a public letter as distinguished from private correspondence *

Letter to the editor A letter to the editor (LTE) is a Letter (message), letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through ...

, a letter sent to a newspaper, magazine, or online publication by one of its readers and meant to be published *

Encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally fr ...

letter in the Catholic Church * Apostolic letter (''litterae apostolicae''), a type of

ecclesiastical letter Ecclesiastical letters are publications or announcements of the organs of Roman Catholic ecclesiastical authority, e.g. the synods, but more particularly of pope and bishops, addressed to the faithful in the form of letters. Letters of the po ...

in the Catholic Church * Letter (paper size), paper conventionally sized for letter-writing

Education

* Letters, an obsolete synecdoche for

literacy Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

; e.g. "He knows his letters" *

Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

as in ''Letters, Arts and Sciences'' *

Varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. A person who ...

, an award given in the U.S. for interscholastic or intercollegiate merit in a sport or other activity such as band or orchestra

Music

* ''Letters'' (Bish album), 2020 * ''Letters'' (Matt Cardle album), 2011 * ''Letters'' (Butch Walker album), 2004 * ''Letters'' (Jimmy Webb album), 1972 * "Letters" (Monica song), 2023 * "Letters" (Frank Turner song), 2024 * "Letters" (Hikaru Utada song), 2002

Places

Letters, Ross-shire Letters () is a village on the south west shore of Loch Broom, in Garve, Ross-shire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevat ...

, a small village on the coast of Loch Broom, Scotland *

Letter railway station Letter is a railway station located in Letter, Germany, Letter, Germany. The station is located on the Hanover–Minden railway and the Bremen–Hanover railway. The train services are operated by Deutsche Bahn as part of the Hanover S-Bahn. Lette ...

in Germany * Letter, a townland in

Kilcar ''Cill Charthaigh'' (anglicised as Kilcar) is a Gaeltacht village on the R263 road (Ireland), R263 Regional road (Ireland), regional road in the south west of County Donegal in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is also a townland of 233 acres an ...

, County Donegal, Ireland

People

Douglas Letter Douglas Neal Letter is an American attorney. He was general counsel to the United States House of Representatives from 2018 to 2022. He is now chief legal officer for Brady: United Against Gun Violence. From 1978 to 2018, he was an attorney in th ...

, American lawyer and general counsel *

Megan Letter Megan Letter is an American YouTuber primarily known for her '' Roblox'' videos on her YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Stev ...

(born 1995), American YouTuber *

Stephan Letter Stephan Letter (born 17 September 1978) is a German serial killer and former nurse responsible for the murder of at least 29 patients while he worked at a hospital in Sonthofen, Bavaria, between January 2003 and July 2004. His murders were descr ...

(born 1978), German serial killer

Other uses

* '' LETTERS'', a 1979 novel by John Barth * John Letters, a Scottish manufacturer of golf clubs * ''Letters'' (sculpture), a 1915 work by Charles Keck