- letter
- letter let‧ter [ˈletə ǁ -ər] noun [countable]1. a written or printed message that is usually put in an envelope and sent by mail:
• Please sign the letter and mail it back within two weeks.
alloˈcation ˌletter also alˈlotment ˌletter FINANCEa letter telling someone how many shares they will receive when new shares are first made available; = LETTER OF ALLOCATION:• Qualifying members will get their allocation letters by early April.
apˈpointment ˌletter HUMAN RESOURCESa letter from an organization to someone to say that they have been given a job; = LETTER OF APPOINTMENT:• The appointment letter should include the appointee's job title and salary amount.
ˈcomfort ˌletterFINANCE a letter from a company to a bank in support of a subsidiary of the company that is asking for a loan; = LETTER OF COMFORT:• A parent company will give, if not a formal guarantee, then a comfort letter relating to its subsidiary's indebtedness to banks and others.
ˌcovering ˈletter , ˈcover ˌlettera letter that you send with another document or a package, explaining why it has been sent or giving extra information about it:• Copies of the questionnaire and covering letter were sent to heads of department individually.
enˈgagement ˌletter HUMAN RESOURCESa letter in which the conditions under which someone is employed are stated. In the US, an engagement letter is usually given to a contractor who has been employed to carry out a particular service or job; = LETTER OF ENGAGEMENT:• The fee structure must be clearly set out in the engagement letter.
ˈform ˌlettera standard letter that is sent to a number of people with just the name and address changed for each different person:• We wrote to quite a large number of companies, but many sent back only form letters.
2. any of the signs in writing or printing that represent a speech sound:• the letter `A'
3. do something to the letter to pay exact attention to the details of an agreement, rule, set of instructions etc:• In order for the plan to work, you need to follow the instructions to the letter.
4. LAW the letter of the law the exact words of a law or agreement rather than the intended or general meaning:• an administrator with a rigid adherence to the letter of the law
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Ⅰ.letter UK US /ˈletər/ noun [C]► COMMUNICATIONS a written message from one person to another, usually put in an envelope and sent by mail: by letter »You will receive an acknowledgement by letter.
get/receive a letter (from sb) »I got a letter from my lawyer this morning.
deliver/post/send a letter »I sent a letter about the problem to HQ last week.
draft/write/sign a letter »The letter was signed by the managing director.
reply to/acknowledge/answer a letter »I wrote to the company but they did not even acknowledge my letter.
a confirmation/rejection/warning letter »You will receive a confirmation letter within 10 working days.
an accompanying/a covering letter »Please find enclosed my CV and a covering letter.
a formal/an informal letter »He wrote a formal letter of resignation.
»The letter was addressed to John Clarke.
»a letter dated 3rd March 2010
► any of the set of symbols used to write a language, representing a sound in the language: »the letter D
»an upper-case/lower-case letter (= A/a or B/b)
→ See also ALLOCATION LETTER(Cf. ↑allocation letter), APPLICATION LETTER(Cf. ↑application letter), APPOINTMENT LETTER(Cf. ↑appointment letter), BANK AUTHORIZATION LETTER(Cf. ↑bank authorization letter), COMMITMENT LETTER(Cf. ↑commitment letter), COVERING LETTER(Cf. ↑covering letter), COVER LETTER(Cf. ↑cover letter), CREDIT DISPUTE LETTER(Cf. ↑credit dispute letter), ENGAGEMENT LETTER(Cf. ↑engagement letter), FORM LETTER(Cf. ↑form letter), LETTER OF COMFORT(Cf. ↑letter of comfort), REGRET LETTER(Cf. ↑regret letter)Ⅱ.letter UK US /ˈletər/ adjective [before noun]► US LETTER-SIZE(Cf. ↑letter-size)
Financial and business terms. 2012.
