letter | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

359 entries found.

in reference to matter printed from relief surfaces, 1840, from letter (n.1) "a type character" + press (n.). Earlier "text," as opposed to copper-plate illustration (1771).

letter-opener (n.)

1864 as a device to slit open letter envelopes, from letter (n.1) + opener. Earlier as a government or other official on continental Europe in charge of opening and reading private mails of suspected persons and censoring them (1847).

letter-head (n.)

also letterhead, "sheet of paper with a printed or engraved logo or address," 1868, short for letterheading (1867); from letter (n.1) + heading (n.) in the printing sense. So called because it was printed at the "head" of the sheet of paper.

red-letter (adj.)

"having a rubricated letter; written or drawn in red ink," late 14c., from red (adj.1) + letter (n.). A red-letter day (late 14c.) originally was a saint's day, marked on church calendars in red letters.

lettered (adj.)

"literate, learned in letters," c. 1300, from letter (n.1). Meaning "inscribed" is from 1660s, from letter (v.).

lettering (n.)

1640s, "act of writing;" 1811, "act of putting letters on something;" 1796, "the letters marked or written on something," verbal noun from letter (v.).

letters (n.)

"the profession of authorship or literature," mid-13c., from plural of letter (n.); as in Latin, French. Man of letters attested from 1640s.

literation (n.)

"representation of sounds by alphabetic letters," 1843, from Latin litera "alphabetic letter" (see letter (n.1)) + -ation.

newsletter (n.)

also news-letter, "report containing news intended for general circulation," 1670s, from news (n.) + letter (n.). It fell from use until it was revived 20c.

black-letter (n., adj.)

name for old-style "Gothic" fonts, 1640s, from black (adj.); so called to distinguish heavy, old-style printers' types from the ones coming into use then, which are the dominant modern forms, though a style of black letter was preserved in German into 20c.

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