letra

See also: létra and Letras

Basque

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish letra and French lettre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /letra/ [le.t̪ra]
• Rhymes: -etra, -a
• Hyphenation: le‧tra

Noun

letra inan

1. letter of the alphabet

   Synonym: izki

2. handwriting

   Synonym: idazkera

3. (Northern) letter (written message)

   Synonyms: gutun, eskutitz

4. (banking) Short for kanbio-letra (“bill of exchange”).

Declension

Declension of letra (inanimate, ending in -a)

	indefinite	singular	plural
absolutive	letra	letra	letrak
ergative	letrak	letrak	letrek
dative	letrari	letrari	letrei
genitive	letraren	letraren	letren
comitative	letrarekin	letrarekin	letrekin
causative	letrarengatik	letrarengatik	letrengatik
benefactive	letrarentzat	letrarentzat	letrentzat
instrumental	letraz	letraz	letrez
inessive	letratan	letran	letretan
locative	letratako	letrako	letretako
allative	letratara	letrara	letretara
terminative	letrataraino	letraraino	letretaraino
directive	letratarantz	letrarantz	letretarantz
destinative	letratarako	letrarako	letretarako
ablative	letratatik	letratik	letretatik
partitive	letrarik	—	—
prolative	letratzat	—	—

Derived terms

• kanbio-letra (“bill of exchange”)
• letra etzan (“italics”)
• letra larri (“upper case”)
• letra lodi (“bold”)
• letra xehe (“lower case”)
• letra-gizon
• letra-tipo
• letradun (“learned”)
• letragabe (“illiterate”)
• letragabeko (“illiterate”)
• letraldatu (“to transliterate”)
• letratu (“learned”)
• letraz (“in written form”)
• letrazale

Related terms

• letradu

Further reading

• “letra”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “letra”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Chavacano

Etymology

From Spanish letra (“letter of the alphabet”), from Latin littera.

Noun

letra

1. letter of the alphabet

Classical Nahuatl

Etymology

From Spanish letra, from Latin littera.

Noun

letra

1. A letter of the alphabet.
   • 16C: Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex, book 10

     in jntlatolpan, vnca in letra. R.

     (in their language was the letter r.)

References

• Sahagún, Bernardino de (1961) Arthur J. O. Anderson, Charles E. Dibble, transl., Florentine Codex: Book 10 - The People, Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, page 182

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese letra, letera, from Latin littera (“letter”), from Etruscan [Term?], from Ancient Greek διφθέρα (diphthéra, “tablet”).

Noun

letra f (plural letras)

1. letter of the alphabet

Further reading

• “letra”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

Kankanaey

Etymology

Borrowed from Tagalog letra.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Kankanaey) IPA^(key): /ˈletɾa/ [ˈlet̚.ɾʌ]
  • IPA^(key): (Sagada & parts of Sabangan) /ˈretɾa/ [ˈret̚.ɾʌ]
• Rhymes: -etɾa
• Syllabification: let‧ra

Noun

letra

1. letter of the alphabet

References

• Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (2016) Ortograpiya di Kankanaëy [Kankanaey Orthography]‎^[1] (in Kankanaey and Tagalog), →ISBN, pages 10-11

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin littera.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

Noun

letra f (plural letras)

1. letter (a symbol in an alphabet)

Portuguese

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese letra, letera, from Latin littera (“letter”), from Etruscan [Term?], from Ancient Greek διφθέρα (diphthéra, “tablet”).

Alternative forms

• lêtra (pre-reform spelling)
• lettra (pre-standardization spelling)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈle.tɾɐ/

• Rhymes: -etɾɐ
• Hyphenation: le‧tra

Noun

letra f (plural letras)

1. letter (letter of the alphabet)

   Coordinate terms: glifo, hieróglifo, ideograma, pictograma, runa

2. calligraphy (style of handwriting of a person), handwriting

   Synonyms: caligrafia, escrita

3. (informal) font

   Synonym: fonte

4. (music) lyrics (words of a song)
5. (soccer) a kind of kick, in which the player kicks with the leg opposite to the ball

Derived terms

• à letra
• boas letras
• letra historiada
• letra média
• letra moçárabe
• letra morta
• letra plena
• letra promissória
• letra toledana
• letras sagradas
• letreiro
• letrista
• tirar de letra

Related terms

• beletrismo
• letrado
• letrar
• literal
• literário
• literatura

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Alternative forms

• lettra (pre-standardization spelling)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛ.tɾɐ/

• Rhymes: -ɛtɾɐ
• Hyphenation: le‧tra

Verb

letra

1. inflection of letrar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• letra on the Portuguese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^pt

Romansch

Etymology

From Latin littera (“letter”), from Etruscan [Term?], from Ancient Greek διφθέρα (diphthéra, “tablet”).

Noun

letra f (plural letras)

1. (Sutsilvan) letter (of the alphabet)

Synonyms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran) bustab
• (Puter, Vallader) custab

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin littera (“letter”), from Etruscan [Term?], from Ancient Greek διφθέρα (diphthéra, “tablet”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈletɾa/ [ˈle.t̪ɾa]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -etɾa
• Syllabification: le‧tra

Noun

letra f (plural letras)

1. letter (symbol)

   Hypernym: carácter

2. handwriting
3. lyrics

Derived terms

• a la letra
• al pie de la letra
• apurar una letra
• bellas letras
• buenas letras
• con todas las letras
• cotejo de letras
• cuatro letras
• de puño y letra
• dos letras
• hombre de letras
• juntaletras
• letra bastardilla
• letra chica
• letra corrida
• letra cursiva
• letra de cambio
• letra de guarismo
• letra de imprenta
• letra de mano
• letra de molde
• letra de Tortis
• letra lunar
• letra mayúscula
• letra minúscula
• letra pequeña
• letra por letra
• letra superior
• letra volada
• letra voladita
• letras chinas
• letrilla
• mujer de letras
• primeras letras
• sopa de letras
• tipo de letra
• unas letras

Descendants

• → Chavacano: letra
• → Classical Nahuatl: letra
• → Tagalog: letra

Further reading

• “letra”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish letra, from Latin littera (“letter”), from Etruscan [Term?], from Ancient Greek διφθέρα (diphthéra, “tablet”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈletɾa/ [ˈlɛt̪.ɾɐ]
• Rhymes: -etɾa
• Syllabification: let‧ra

Noun

letra (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜆ᜔ᜇ)

1. letter (of the alphabet)

   Synonym: titik

2. penmanship; style of handwriting

   Synonym: sulat-kamay

3. letter type

   Synonym: tipo

4. lyrics (of a song)

   Synonym: titik

5. style by which letters were made by hands

   Synonyms: pagkakaletra, pagkakapagletra

6. literature

   Synonyms: panitikan, literatura

Derived terms

• letrahan
• letrang bulakbol
• pagkakaletra
• pagkakapagletra
• pagleletra
• tagaletra
• tagapagletra

Related terms

• leterhed
• letering
• letra-por-letra
• letrado
• letrero
• literal
• literaryo
• literasi
• literato
• literatura

Further reading

• “letra”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2024
• “letra”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018