| 释义 |
▪ I. letter, n.1|ˈlɛtə(r)|
Forms: 3 leattre, letere, 3–5 let(t)re, 5 lettere, 4–6 lettur, (4 litter, 5 lettyr), 3– letter.
[a. or ad. OF. and F. lettre:—L. littera a letter of the alphabet (pl. litteræ an epistle, written documents, records), also lītera (in inscriptions leitera), of obscure origin; the hypothesis that it is connected with linĕre ‘to smear’ is now generally rejected.]
I. An alphabetic character.
1. a. A character or mark designed to represent one of the elementary sounds used in speech; one of the symbols that compose the alphabet. † these letters = this inscription. For capital, double, Roman, etc. letter, see the adjs.
a1225Ancr. R. 42 Þe uif lettres of vre lefdi nome. a1240Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom. 249 A gret boc..iwriten wið swarte smeale leattres. c1250Gen. & Ex. 993 His name ðo wurð a lettre mor..For ðo wurd abram abraham. c1300Havelok 2481 And þare be writen þise leteres: ‘Þis is þe swike’ [etc.]. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xliii. (Cecile) 111 Vith goldine lettris wrytine brad. c1391Chaucer Astrol. ii. §3 A capital lettre that is cleped an X. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) iii. 9 Þai wrate letters with þaire fingers. 1430–40Lydg. Bochas ii. xiii. (1554) 51 b, Cadmus found first letters for to wryte. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 73 Over whose hedde was written in letters of Romayn in gold, faicte bonne chere quy voudra. 1598R. Grenewey Tacitus, Ann. xi. iv. (1622) 145 He added and published new letters and characters. c1620A. Hume Brit. Tongue (1865) 16 Thus have I breeflie handled the letteres and their soundes. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxvi. 141 In antient time, before letters were in common use. 1709Berkeley Theory Vision §140 The monosyllable consisting of six letters. 1809Malkin Gil Blas i. i. ⁋2 By teaching me my letters he brushed up his own learning. 1840Lardner Geom. 116 The letters a, b, c express respectively the sides of the triangle.
b. sing. collective for pl. Now only in before the letter (= the more usual before letters): a proof taken from an engraved plate before the lettering is inserted.
c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 93 Þe cankre haþ a propre sauour, þe which mai not be write wiþ lettre. 1642C. Vernon Consid. Excheq. 43 His Clerk..writeth upon every Tally the whole letter of the Tellers Bill, that when the Tally is cloven both the foile and the stocke thereof, may have like letter upon them. 1849Thackeray Pendennis xviii, Your Stranges, and Rembrandt etchings, and Wilkies before the letter.
c. Phrases. † to affect, hunt, lick the letter: to practise, or study alliteration. letter-by-letter: taking each letter in its turn; also attrib.
1579E. K. Ep. Ded. to Spenser's Sheph. Cal., I scorne and spue out the rakehellye route of our ragged rymers (for so themselues vse to hunt the letter). 1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. ii. 56, I will something affect the letter, for it argues facilitie. 1605[see lick v. 3]. 1624Bp. R. Montagu Gagg Pref. 18, I could have played the fool in alliteration and hunted the letter as you have done. 1836Southey Cowper's Wks. III. 226 ‘In a firm and delicate hand’..(no doubt the same letter-by-letter writing that has before been noticed). 1951[see comparatist]. 1961T. Landau Encycl. Librarianship (ed. 2) 194/2 Letter by letter filing, a method of filing..entries in a list,..the basic principle being that each heading, whether consisting of one word or more, is regarded as one unit. 1964F. Bowers Bibliogr. & Textual Crit. iii. vii. 92 Palaeographical ‘explanations’ have a marked tendency to take it for granted that every letter must be confused with another, as if the scribe were puzzling out the word in detail, letter by letter... In reprints,..the letter-by-letter misreading posited by palaeographers is impossible. 1967Cox & Grose Organiz. Bibliogr. Rec. by Computer ii. 13 The ability to sort word-by-word or letter-by-letter.
d. pl. A round game in which the players have to form words out of letters inscribed on separate pieces of card or ivory.
1856G. J. Whyte-Melville Kate Cov. xxi, We sat round a large table and played at ‘letters’, sedulously ‘shuffling’ the handsome capitals as we gave each other long jaw-breaking words.
e. colloq. (freq. in pl.). A university degree or other honour (denoted by its initial letters following the name of the holder). Also (esp. U.S.), some other mark of distinction, usu. for achievement in sport, e.g. an abbreviation or monogram representing the name of a college or other institution.
1888Kipling Plain Tales from Hills 54 It was pleasant to be singled out by a Commissioner with letters after his name. 1915Chicago Daily Maroon 10 June 1/4 The Board of Athletic Control will meet today to award letters to this year's members of the track, baseball, tennis and gymnastic teams. 1951Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 4) 1098/2 Letters, degree-letters after one's name: coll.: mid-C. 19–20. 1964Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 10 June (1970) 163 An Illinois boy, totally deaf, who had won awards in science and in English, and a school letter in wrestling, was scheduled..to become a scientist. 1970New Yorker 23 May 54/1 He had earned his high-school letter in four sports. 1974L. Lamb Man in Mist x. 66 The heads of departments knew me... Letters arter their names as long as Dick's hatband.
2. Printing.
a. pl. Types. ? Obs.
1563Edin. City Rec. in Ann. Scott. Print. xv. (1890) 157 [He] desyrit thair lordschippes to deliuer him the saidis irnis and letteris. 1588Marprel. Epist. (Arb.) 22 Waldegraves printing presse and Letters were takken away. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 14 Wee can no more ascribe these things to chance, than a Printers Case of letters could by chance fall into the right composition of the Bible which he printeth. 1683S. Sewall Diary I. 50 The last half-sheet was printed with my letters at Boston. 1854,1892[see lift v. 3 g].
b. sing. Types collectively. Also, a fount of type; a particular style of printed characters.
1588Marprel. Epist. (Arb.) 23 Another printer, that had presse and letter in a place called Charterhouse. 1599Thynne Animadv. (1875) 71 Caxtone..first printed Chaucers tales in one colume in a ragged letter, and after in one colume in a better order. 1618Bolton Florus To Rdr., The words..inserted in a different letter through the text of Florus. 1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing 370 By broken Letter is not meant the breaking of the Shanks of any of the Letters, but the breaking the orderly Succession the Letters stood in in a Line, Page, or Form, &c. and mingling the Letters together, which mingled Letters is called Py. 1699Bentley Phal. Introd. 3, I have distinguish'd the Former Dissertation by printing it in a Greater Letter. 1706Hearne Collect. 14 Mar. (O.H.S.) I. 204 He..is resolv'd to print in a Less Letter & in columns. 1709Lond. Gaz. No. 4617/4 Printed upon Extraordinary Paper, and with a New Brevier Letter. 1719Swift Baucis & Philemon, The ballads pasted on the wall..Now seem'd to look abundance better, Improv'd in picture, size, and letter. 1816J. Scott Vis. Paris (ed. 5) 221 Lying pretensions..in all the varieties of a large and small letter. 1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 144 When the usual page of letter (fusil type) has been made ready for press, it is..surrounded with a moveable square of wood, which rises nearly as high as the beard of the letter. 1842Brande Dict. Sci., etc. s.v., There is plenty of letter.
II. Something written.
†3.
a. sing. Anything written; an inscription, document, text; a written warrant or authority.
b. pl. Writings, written records. Obs.
a.c1325Metr. Hom. 10 Malachye, And..Ysaie..Thai scheu bathe an wit sere letter. 13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 1580 Alle loked on þat letter as lewed þay were. 1375Barbour Bruce x. 353 The gud erll Thomas Assegit, as the lettir sais, Edinburgh. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 198 In the olde lawe, as holy lettre telleth, Mennes sons men called vs vchone. c1380Antecrist in Todd 3 Treat. Wyclif 136 Þei wole þat men preche fables & lesyngis & þerto graunte lettre. c1386Chaucer Monk's T. 218 In al that lond Magicien was noon That koude expounde what this lettre mente. c1475Songs & Carols 15th C. (Percy Soc.) 56 To a lettere alone I me ledde, That wel was wretyn upon a wal. 1534More Treat. Passion Wks. 1316/1 Then foloweth it in the letter. ‘Hee came then vnto Simon Peter’ [etc.].
b.c1250Gen. & Ex. 2527 And he ðat ðise lettres wrot, God him helpe weli mot. a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) B v, For except the diuyne letters, there is nothyng so well written, but that there maie bee founde necessitie of correction. 1557F. S[eager] Sch. Vertue 185 in Babees Bk. 340 If letters had not then brought them to lyght The truth of suche thynges who could nowe resyght? 1789Brand Hist. Newcastle II. 380 By letters alone the accounts of past actions can be handed down to us with accuracy.
4. a. A missive communication in writing, addressed to a person or body of persons; an epistle. Also, in extended use, applied to certain formal documents issued by persons in authority.
a1225Ancr. R. 422 Ȝe ne schulen senden lettres, ne under uon lettres, ne writen buten leaue. c1275Lay. 4496 Þo sende Delgan..one deorne lettre. 13..Coer de L. 1173 Kyng Rychard dede a lettre wryte (A noble clerk it gan adyte). 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. viii. 25 Vndur his secre seal Treuþe sende a lettre. 1390Gower Conf. I. 288, I wole a lettre unto mi brother..With al my wofull herte endite. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xxx. (Percy Soc.) 149, I shall a letter make Unto your lady, and send it by my sonne. 1535Coverdale Isa. xxxvii. 14 When Ezechias had receaued y⊇ lettre of the messaungers, & red it. 1630Milton 2nd Poem Univ. Carrier 33 His Letters are deliver'd all and gon. 1676Ray Corr. (1848) 123, I have been lately solicited..by an unknown person who sent me a letter. c1700Prior Epist. to F. Shepherd 12 By penny-post to send a letter. 1777Cowper Let. 20 Apr., I once thought Swift's Letters the best that could be written; but I like Gray's better. 1848in Gilbart's Treat. Banking I. 150 Government were obliged to interpose by a letter, in order to protect the public from the restrictive effects of the Act. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxii, I'd teach them to..write their own letters, and read letters that are written to them. 1885Law Times Rep. LIII. 479/2 Her trustees..applied by letter to Messrs. Thompson for delivery of their bills of costs.
b. pl. with sing. meaning, after L. litteræ. Chiefly in the formal or legal sense, as in letters dimissory, letters patent, letters rogatory, etc., for which see the adjs. Also letters of administration, caption, ejection, fraternity, horning, etc., for which see those words.
c1290Becket 1219 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 141 To þe kinge of Fraunce heo comen and lettres with heom bere fram þe king of engelond. c1350Will. Palerne 4842 Loo here hire owne letteres to leue it þe beter. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xi. 41, I had lettres of þe sowdan with his grete seele. 1429Rolls Parlt. IV. 345/2 Sende your Letters of Prive Seal. 1501Ld. Treas. Acc. Scotl. (1900) II. 126 Ormund pursewant, to pas to summond the lard of Fivee and his folkis with lettrez in the secund forme. 1604Shakes. Oth. iv. i. 286 Did the Letters worke vpon his blood. 1629Laud in Ussher's Lett. (1686) 410, I..prevailed with his Majesty that I might write these Letters to you, which are to let your Grace understand that [etc.]. 1651Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 274, I had letters of the death of Mrs. Newton, my grandmother-in-law. 1883R. W. Dixon Mano i. xvi. 53 And I shall give thee letters unto those Who there abide.
c. In phrases and special collocations. letter of advice (Comm.), a letter notifying, e.g. the drawing of a bill on, or the consignment of goods to, the correspondent. letter of attorney, a formal document empowering another person to perform certain acts on one's behalf (now more usually ‘power of attorney’). letter of brotherhood, = letter of fraternity (see fraternity 4). letter of credit: see credit n. 2 c and 10 b. letter of intent, a letter or similar document containing a declaration of the intentions of the writer. St. Agatha's letters, letters written on her day (Feb. 5) as a charm against fire (see quot. 1563). King's Letters (see quot. 1770). Queen's Letter, a circular letter to the clergy first issued by Queen Anne (see quot. 1715). letters of slains (Scots law): see slain. to run one's letters (Scots law): see quot. 1861.
1401Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 21 Why aske ye no letters of bretherheads of other mens praiers? 1467in Bury Wills (1850) 50, I will..that myn executours..make hym a letter of attorney if need be. 1563Homilies ii. Idolatry iii. (1859) 225 Instead of Vulcan and Vesta..our men have placed St. Agatha and make letters on her day for to quench fire with. 1683W. Lloyd in Lett. Lit. Men (Camd.) 187, I desire that whensoever you send any thing for me you would be pleased to send your letter of advice by the Post. 1715Nelson Addr. Pers. Qual. 120 The Queen's Letter for making a Collection in several Parishes, in and about London and in several Cities. 1770Ld. Hailes Henryson's Tale of Dog, Bannatyne Poems 280 Charges to pay or to perform, issued in the name of the Sovereign, are still termed the King's letters. 1770Cowper Let. 21 Apr., To receive it [a dividend] by letter of attorney. 1825Knapp & Baldw. Newgate Cal. IV. 286/2 Having run his letters against His Majesty's advocate. 1849Freese Comm. Class-bk. 31 The letter wherein the drawing of the bill is advised, commonly called the ‘letter of advice’. 1861W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. s.v. Liberation, The prisoner may run his letters, that is, he may apply in writing to any of the Lords of Justiciary..and within twenty-four hours the judge must issue precepts to intimate to the public prosecutor and party concerned..to fix a diet for trial. 1961Webster, Letter of intent, a written authorization enabling officers of the federal government in time of imperative need for war materials and supplies to order the making or furnishing of such materials and supplies before the issuance of a formal contract and providing reimbursement for the contractor's expenses if no contract is subsequently issued. 1970R. Johnson Black Camels v. 75 The news of his oil strike reached New York with a copy of the letter of intent he had exchanged with Sheikh Rasul.
d. (See quot. 1825.) dial. and U.S.
1825Jamieson Suppl. s.v. Letter, a spark on the side of the wick of a candle; so denominated by the superstitious, who believe that the person to whom the spark is opposite will soon receive some intelligence by letter. 1854B. F. Taylor Jan. & June 220 Two ‘letters’ are snuffed from the candles. 1902in Eng. Dial. Dict.
e. An article, report, or the like, setting out the social, political, or cultural, etc., tendencies in a specified place.
1782J. H. St. John de Crèvecœur (title) Letters from an American Farmer; describing certain provincial situations, manners, and customs, not generally known; and conveying some idea of the late and present interior circumstances of the British colonies in North America. 1848Manch. Guardian 22 Nov. 5/1 (heading) Letters from London. (From a Private Correspondent.) 1874Geo. Eliot Let. 7 Jan. (1955) VI. 4 The Parisian letter is nicely done... The single paragraph on the pressure of radiation is worth more than the price of the paper. 1913W. J. Locke Stella Maris v. 52 He was..the contributor..of a weekly London Letter to an American syndicate. 1955Radio Times 25 Apr. 16/3 Letter from America, by Alistair Cooke. 1966K. Martin Father Figures ix. 173 Dore was an excellent lobby correspondent, who for many years had written paragraphs about Parliament, mainly for the London Letter. 1974Spectator 21 Dec. 787/3 American letter—The President gets smart—[by] Al Capp.
5. The precise terms of a statement; the signification that lies on the surface. the letter: often used (after St. Paul's τὸ γράµµα) for the literal tenor of a law or statement, opposed to the spirit. † after the letter: literally. † in letter: in the more literal meaning (opposed to in spirit). to the letter: implicitly, to the fullest extent.
1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 6759 Þir wordes, aftir þe lettre, er hard to here. 1382Wyclif 2 Cor. iii. 6 The lettre sleith, forsoth the spirit quykeneth. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xv. 68 Þai vnderstand noȝt haly writte spiritually, bot after þe letter. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 3 God hath no suche bodyly membres, as this texte to the lettre dothe pretende. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 6 Cleauing as fast as we can to the letter..let vs draw as neare as we may to the sense of Moses work. 1636Massinger Bashf. Lover v. i, To tread on My sovereign's territories with forbidden feet The severe letter of the law calls death. 1642J. Eaton Honey-c. Free Justif. 219 That truth which they seemed before to hold, at leastwise in letter. 1678Butler Hud. iii. ii. 609 To..Disdain the Pedantry o' th' Letter. 1700J. A. Astry tr. Saavedra-Faxardo I. 160 A Prince is not oblig'd by the strict Letter of the Law. 1724A. Collins Gr. Chr. Relig. 107 And to look on reasoning from the letter to be mean and low. 1776Bentham Fragm. Govt. Wks. 1843 I. 270 A King may..impair the happiness of his people without violating the letter of any single Law. 1809–10Coleridge Friend (1865) 27 He who most faithfully adheres to the letter of the law of conscience. 1821Byron Sardan. v. i. 354, I shall obey you to the letter. 1844Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. xix. §2 (1862) 311 Applying the strict letter of the law to the circumstances. 1858Froude Hist. Eng. III. xvi. 406 The English criminal law was in its letter one of the most severe in Europe. 1886‘Hugh Conway’ Living or Dead iv, You had better follow your father's commands to the letter. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. II. liii. 326 Jefferson..without venturing to propose alterations in the text of the Constitution, protested against all extensions of its letter.
6. Literature in general; hence, acquaintance with it, learning, study, erudition.
†a. sing. Obs.
a1400–50Alexander 624 Arystotill.. one of the coronest clerkis þat euer knew letter. 1494Fabyan Chron. vi. clxxix. 176 Lower than his fader in letter and connynge.
b. pl. † Also good letters (obs.). Occasionally, the profession of literature, authorship. man of letters [= F. homme de lettres]: a man of learning, a scholar; now usually, a man of the literary profession, an author. Commonwealth, republic of letters: see those words.
a1250Prov. ælfred in O.E. Misc. 106 Ne may non ryhtwis king..Bute if..he cunne lettres lokie him seolf one, hw he schule his lond laweliche holde. 1483Caxton Cato B j b, By letters and by scyence is the man made semblable or lyke to god. c1532G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 894 Well lerned in good lettres. 1577J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 54 Learning and good letters to yong men bringeth sobrietie. 1611Bible John vii. 15 How knoweth this man letters, hauing neuer learned? 1645Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 146 There were likewise the effigies of the most illustrious men of letters. 1693Wood Life (O.H.S.) IV. 50, I..have from my youth laboured in good letters. 1708Partridge Bickerstaff detected, He was bred to letters, and is master of a pen. 1720Waterland Eight Serm. 330 Such an Abuse of the Readers, as one shall seldom meet with among Men of Letters. 1751Harris Hermes (1841) 111 He has always been a lover of letters. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xiv, It was sufficient to show me that he was a man of letters. 1811Scott Prose Wks. IV. Biographies II. (1870) 191 Lord Minto, himself a man of letters, a poet and a native of Teviotdale. 1827Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) II. x. 188 That life of exile and privacy which religion and letters would have rendered tolerable to the King. 1855Prescott Philip II, i. vi. (1857) 95 Letters kept pace with art. 1880Athenæum 10 Jan. 56 Several guests well known in letters were present. 1891Speaker 2 May 532/1 Metaphysics have again condescended to speak the language of polite letters.
7. = French letter s.v. French a. 3.
c1888–94My Secret Life II. 318 My cock and the letter would not agree. 1916[see cap n.1 13 d].
8. attrib. and Comb.
a. simple attributive, chiefly in sense 4, as letter-bag, letter-boy, letter-change, letter-clip, letter-envelope, letter-file, letter-form, letter-name, letter-post, letter-sequence, letter-shape, letter-slit, letter-string, letter-tray.
b. objective and obj. gen., as letter-bearer, † letter-kerner, letter-opener, letter-sorter; letter-copying, letter-writing.
1809T. Brown in Naval Chron. XXII. 294 The *letter-bag was saved. 1838Dickens O. Twist xlviii, The guard was standing at the door, waiting for the letter-bag.
c1340Cursor M. 7907 (Fairf.) Al *letter-berers for-þi ta ensaumple be vrry.
1816Jane Austen Emma II. ix. 176 A stray *letter-boy on an obstinate mule.
1846R. Garnett in Proc. Philol. Soc. II. 233 On certain Initial *Letter-changes in the Indo-European Languages.
1859Sala Gas-light & D. xviii. 204 *Letter-clips, portfolios, music-cases.
1858in Abr. Specif. Patents Printing ii. (1864) 3 Stands for *letter-copying presses.
1798W. Hutton Autobiog. 24 Pencils, Cards,..*Letter-files, Maps and Pictures. 1895Montgomery Ward Catal. 40/1 The ‘Boss’ File is the very best letter file ever sold at the price. 1911O. Onions Widdershins 294 The shelf on which I kept my letter-files... My files contained..my agent's letters. 1955E. Pound Section: Rock-Drill lxxxvii. 33 Windeler's vision: his letter file the size of 2 lumps of sugar, But the sheet legible.
1908Westm. Gaz. 22 Aug. 14/1 He looks forward to the invention of *letter-forms that will be much simpler and much more legible than the traditional symbols. 1937Discovery Dec. 362/2 The letter-form of the calligrapher. 1963Times Lit. Suppl. 4 Jan. 16/3 The changing use of type and letterforms in English.
1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xiii. ⁋4 They..left the *Letter-Kerner, after the Letter was Cast, to Kern away the Sholdering.
1889Cent. Dict., *Letter-name. 1934Priebsch & Collinson German Lang. v. iii. 261 Rhyme-forms and spelling out names by means of new letter-names applied to the alphabet. 1961R. B. Long Sentence & its Parts xvii. 388 Examples are IQ and TV, in which the component letters are given their individual letter-name pronunciations.
1898Westm. Gaz. 8 Dec. 3/1 New ideas in pencil-cases and *letter-openers.
1823Bentham Not Paul 286 Between Thessalonica and Athens..there was not..any established *letter-post. 1929D. H. Lawrence Let. 9 July (1962) II. 1163 If I seal them letter-post they may hold them and make more fuss.
1953Language XXIX. 72 The *letter-sequences QL, TSR, SSS..never occur in English spelling.
1964W. R. Lee in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 288 There are various *letter-shapes to grasp.
1845Punch VIII. 53 The Clerk..hearing a knocking at the outer door, looks through the *letter-slit.
1851H. Melville Whale xxxi. 147 No ordinary *letter-sorter in the Post-office is equal to it.
1964Language XL. 168 The omission of a given *letter-string from a dictionary is no assurance that the combination is not an English word.
1907Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 356/2 *Letter Trays. Fitted with spring clip, 4to..0/9.
1788Cowper Let. to Mrs. King 6 Dec., My *letter-writing time is spent, and I must now to Homer. 1791Boswell Johnson 8 May an. 1781 We talked of letter-writing. 1837Lockhart Scott xlix. (1839) VI. 235 He varied his style of letter writing according to the character..of his..correspondents.
9. Special Combs.: letter-balance, a contrivance for ascertaining the weight of a letter; letter-ballot, a ballot in which the papers are sent by post; letter-board (Printing), a board on which matter in type is placed for convenience in handling; letter-bomb, an explosive device sent through the post as a weapon of terror; letter-book, a book in which letters are († written or) filed, or in which copies of letters are kept for reference; letter-bound a., characterized by close adherence to the letter of a law; letter-box, (a) a box in which letters are kept; (b) one in which they are deposited for transmission by post or on delivery; (c) Mountaineering (see quot. 1968); (d) in espionage (see quot. 1961); hence letter-box v. nonce-wd., to put (a letter) into a letter-box; letter-carrier, one who carries letters either as a private messenger or as a public official; letter-case, (a) a case to hold letters; † (b) an envelope; letter-corporal, one entrusted with the duty of fetching and delivering letters; † letter-cover, an envelope; letter-cutter, one who makes punches for type-founding; so letter-cutting; letter-drop (U.S.), a slot into which letters may be dropped, as into a post-office or postal car (Cent. Dict.); letter-dropper nonce-wd. (see quot.); letter-founder, -founding, -foundry = type-founder, etc.; letter-head, (a) a sheet of letter-paper with a printed or engraved heading giving address, date, or the like; (b) dial., a postage stamp; letter-heading (see quot.); letter-high a. (Printing), of the same height as the ordinary printing-type; letter-house dial. = post-office; letter-leaf, an epiphytic orchid of the genus Grammatophyllum, so named from the markings on the leaves; letter-learned, † (a) learnt from letters or books; (b) = book-learned; letter-learning = book-learning; letter-lichen, a lichen of the genus Opegrapha or order Graphidei (see quot.); letter-lock, a lock which can be opened only by arranging letters attached externally so as to form the word on which the lock is set; letter-man, (a) one of the Chelsea pensioners who was entitled to extra pay on the ground of a letter from the sovereign; (b) U.S., a sportsman who has received a letter of distinction (see sense 1 e above); letter-mark, a letter used as a contraction or symbol; † letter-money, in the Civil War, the money contributed to the support of the royal army in response to Charles I's letters; † letter-monger nonce-wd., a forger of letters; letter-office = post-office; letter-ornament, a decoration made up of the forms of letters; letter-paper, paper for writing letters; as a trade term, restricted to the quarto size, the smaller sizes being called note-paper; letter-perfect a., (a) Theatr., knowing one's part to the letter; (b) literally correct, verbally exact; fig. flawless, unexceptionable; letter-plant = letter-leaf; letter plate, a plate for fixing to the outside of a door or wall and having a rectangular aperture, covered by a flap, through which letters may be put; letter-punch, a steel punch used in making matrices for type; letter-quality a., that produces print of a quality suitable for business letters (esp. of a printer attached to a computer); of correspondence, etc.: printed to this standard; letter-rack, (a) a tray with divisions to hold an assortment of types; (b) a small frame in which letters or papers are kept; letter-racket slang (see quot.); † letter-receiver, one who receives letters for transmission by post; letter-scale, a scale for weighing letters; letter-space Printing, a space inserted between the letters of a word; so letter-spaced a., letter-spacing vbl. n.; letter-stamp, a stamp used at a post-office for cancelling postage-stamps or for impressing notifications on letters or parcels; letter-struck a. nonce-wd., smitten with the love of learning; letter-weigher, a device for weighing letters; letter-weight = paper-weight; † letter-will Sc., one's testament; letter-winged a., of a kite, having the wings marked as if with letters (Cent. Dict.); letter-wood, the wood of the South American tree Brosimum Aubletii, which is marked with black spots resembling letters or hieroglyphics; letter-word, a runic symbol or ideogram signifying both the name for something and a specific single letter; a word wholly or partly consisting of a letter or letters which are abbreviations in themselves; letter-worship, an undue attention to the letter of a law or commandment; letter-writer, (a) one who writes letters (hence used in the titles of manuals of letter-writing); (b) a machine for taking copies of letters. Also letter-card, letter-press.
1880G. N. Lamphere U.S. Govt. 240/1 Supplying the post-offices entitled thereto with blanks,..twine, *letter-balances, and cancelling-stamps. 1901Chambers's Jrnl. Sept. 577/1 A German firm brought out a folding letter-balance, on the pan of which were engraved the British postal rates and the legend, ‘Made in Germany’. 1961Lebende Sprachen VI. 70/1 Letter scale (or: balance), die Briefwaage.
1898Engineering Mag. XVI. 126/1 This resolution..submitted to the Society at large in the form of a *letter-ballot.
1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing vii, *Letter-Boards are Oblong Squares..of clean and well-season'd Stuff.
1948Times 4 Aug. 4/5 Each of the *letter bombs which he has examined contained sufficient explosive to cause fatal injuries if detonated at close quarters. 1949Koestler Promise & Fulfilment xiii. 149 His brother was killed by a letter-bomb sent by the Stern Group. 1972Times 20 Sept. 1/3 One of the unexploded letter bombs. 1973Guardian 28 June 26/5 A letter bomb exploded yesterday in the hands of a Londonderry solicitor..the first casualty of the letter-bomb campaign in Northern Ireland. 1974Ibid. 26 Jan. 26/5 A letter bomb exploded at the head office of Pilkington Brothers, the glass manufacturers.
1776J. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 224 It would fill this *letter-book to give you all the arguments for and against this measure. 1892Sir R. V. Williams in Law Times Rep. LXVII. 234/1 The letter-book satisfies me that Mr. Norton was right.
1643Milton Divorce ii. xx, That *letter-bound servility of the canon doctors.
1812Examiner 30 Nov. 766/1 The libel was found in the *letter-box of the Newspaper. 1849Thackeray 4 Sept. in Scribner's Mag. I. 683/1, I put the letter into the unpaid-letter box. 1951E. Coxhead One Green Bottle iii. 78 The rib bore them upward, perpetually varied,.. now parallel cracks, now a groove, now a letter box... The climb above the crux was even more delightful. 1955J. Thomas No Banners xvi. 144 A circuit had to be organized into leak-proof compartments with letter-boxes or couriers as the only links between them. 1961R. Seth Anat. Spying iii. 44 The ‘letter-box’ is a long-standing method of channelling information to the chief. It may be an accommodation address..or it may be a loose brick in a wall. Sometimes one member of a group acts as a ‘letter-box’ under his own name and at his home address. 1968P. Crew Encycl. Dict. Mountaineering 79/1 Letter-box, a rectangular hole in a narrow rock ridge; a hole formed by jammed blocks or flakes of rock anywhere on a rock face. 1969Hurd & Osmond Smile on Face of Tiger vii. 241 The silly girl popped out of the Home Office and they [sc. minutes] were in her usual letter-box within the hour. 1971R. Petrie Thorne in Flesh xv. 187 Aury, apparently, had been a live letterbox for a French security organisation.
1807W. Taylor in Robberds Mem. II. 187 It is better..that I should *letter-box it here.
1552Huloet, *Letter carier, ambulus, libellio, tabellarius. 1697Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) IV. 304 A warrant is come from his majestie, appointing Mr. Vanhulse, the Dutch secretary, to be court letter carrier. 1828Miss Mitford Village Ser. iii. 20 Such another Dick and such another donkey, who acted as letter-carriers to that side of the village. 1967Boston Sunday Globe 23 Apr. 13/1 Letter carriers in the 25 cities and towns in the Boston Postal District are delivering notices to 565,000 families and business firms, advising them of their own Zip code for use in return addresses. 1973Wodehouse Bachelors Anonymous ix. 123 ‘You're American, aren't you?’ said Amelia Bingham. ‘I thought so. It was your saying ‘letter-carrier’ instead of postman.’ 1973Black Panther 15 Sept. 5/2 Attrition is also used to get rid of workers, especially letter carriers.
1672T. Jordan Lond. Triumph. 16 By Ladies *Letter-case, [He] Shall have a better place. 1790F. Burney Diary Nov., My memorial was always in my mind; my courage never rose to bringing it from my letter-case. 1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 44 Let a person choose any one of them [cards], and inclose it in a letter-case.
1896B. M. Croker Village Tales 1 Tips to the mess-servants, the *letter-corporal, and colour-sergeant.
1742Richardson Pamela IV. 233 Her Handkerchief, and *Letter-cover.
1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xii. ⁋1 A *Letter-Cutter should have a Forge set up.
Ibid. p. 81 *Letter-Cutting is a Handy-Work hitherto kept so conceal'd among the Artificers of it.
1711Addison Spect. No. 59 ⁋2 The Lipogrammatists or *Letter-droppers of Antiquity.
1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xi. ⁋23 To let you know how the *Letter-Founder Cuts the Punches. 1887T. B. Reed (title) History of the Old English Letter Founders.
1769Connect. Col. Rec. (1885) XIII. 273 Resolved..that the Treasurer..pay out of the public treasury to said Buel one hundred pounds..conditioned that he set up and pursue the art of *letter-founding in this Colony.
a1887Jefferies Field & Hedgerow (1889) 88 At the village post-office they ask for ‘*Letterhead, please Sir’, instead of a stamp. 1887Harper's Mag. Mar. 649/2 He drew up a note upon the ‘tavern’ letter-head.
1871Amer. Encycl. Printing (ed. Ringwalt), *Letter-Headings, lines printed at the head of sheets of letter-paper, containing the residence, and generally the name and place of business, of the party for whom such work is done.
1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing ii. ⁋2 In the choice of his Brass Rules, he examines that they be exactly *Letter high.
1832Miss Mitford Village Ser. v. 47 The *letter-house had lately acquired another occupant.
1866Treas. Bot., *Letter-leaf or Letter-plant.
1649Warn. Jac. Beem xxviii. 18 That selfe-reason which without Gods spirit is onely *letter-learned. 1770Whitefield Wks. (1772) VI. 30 The letter-learned Scribes and Pharisees in our Saviour's time.
1678R. Barclay Apol. Quakers (1841) 283 As for *letter learning, we judge it not so much necessary to the well being of one. a1845Hood To Tom Woodgate ix, All letter-learning was a line you, somehow, never crossed.
1856W. L. Lindsay Brit. Lichens 245 Graphideaceæ..in allusion to the resemblance of the apothecia..to ancient hieroglyphics or written characters. For the same reason the Graphideæ are popularly designated ‘*Letter Lichens’ or ‘Scripture-worts’.
1850Chubb Locks & Keys 6 Another description of lock is that well known by the name of the ‘*Letter Lock’.
1724Lond. Gaz. No. 6230/2 All the Out-Pensioners (as well *Letter-men as others) belonging to the said Hospital [Chelsea]. 180.in A. H. Craufurd Gen. Craufurd & Light Div. (1891) 34 An increase in the pay and in the number of letter men. 1926Chicago Tribune 19 Sept. II. 5/4 The letter men in the line are Wolf and Neff, guards, and Rouse, center. 1974Spartanburg (S. Carolina) Herald-Jrnl. 21 Apr. B1/1 Now he is well on the way to becoming Spartanburg High School's first four-sport letterman in at least seven years.
1907Congregational Year Bk. p. xxix, The following *letter-marks and signs are adopted:—B. (Baptist); C.H. (Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion).
a1674Clarendon Hist. Reb. ix. §27 The *Letter Money and Subscription Money being almost exhausted.
1699Bentley Phal. 171 Our *Letter-monger has Herodotus's very words.
1689Lond. Gaz. No. 2486/4 Whoever gives notice of the said Robbers to the General *Letter-Office at London, shall be very well rewarded. 1711Royal Proclam. 23 June, ibid. No. 4866/1 That..there be one General Letter-Office and Post-Office established in the City of London.
1837Dickens Pickw. xxxiii, Sam..stepped into the stationer's shop, and requested to be served with a sheet of the best gilt-edged *letter-paper. 1888Jacobi Printer's Vocab., Letter-paper. This term is applied to quarto paper—note paper being octavo.
1845Ainsworth's Mag. VII. 83 ‘I am *letter-perfect,’ said another [actor]. 1867Harper's Mag. Aug. 405/1 Where [legal] papers are to be served, and copies must be letter-perfect. 1885J. K. Jerome On the Stage 133 He would be letter perfect in all by the following Thursday. 1894‘Mark Twain’ in Century Mag. Apr. 822 Tom's conduct had remained letter-perfect during two whole months. 1929F. M. Ford Let. 10 July (1965) 186 If you will send me the better copy to look through I will certainly make it as letter-perfect as I can. 1969Time 31 Jan. 1 The performances by such Bergman regulars as Max von Sydow and Gunnar Björnstrand are letter-perfect.
1898F. W. Macey Specifications in Detail 247 Knockers and *letter plates are..made in iron and gun-metal, and vary in price from 3s. to {pstlg}1 10s. 1923Work 17 Nov. 161/2 A section through the door, showing the relative positions of the letter-plate and the box, is given by Fig. 3. 1971Country Life 1 Apr. 752/3 Letter plates are easily bought.
1977Forbes (N.Y.) 1 Aug. 27/2 At one end of the low-to-medium priced *letter-quality printing equipment spectrum is the typewriter. 1981Computer Design June 192/1 (heading) Character printers provide letter quality hard copy at 55 chars/s. 1985Personal Computer World Feb. 71/1 (Advt.), Qume's Sprint 11 Plus is the smartest choice in a letter-quality printer for your IBM PC.
1871Amer. Encycl. Printing (ed. Ringwalt), *Letter-rack, a rack for containing wood and metal letters of such a size that it would be inconvenient to keep them in cases.
1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., *Letter-racket, going about to respectable houses with a letter or statement, detailing some case of extreme distress, as shipwreck, sufferings by fire, &c.
1683Lond. Gaz. No. 1812/4 Many of the *Letter-Receivers are Tradesmen.
1895Montgomery Ward Catal. Index, *Letter scale. 1900A. Upward Wonderful Career E. Lobb 307 Be it enough To move the index of a letter-scale But in the estimation of a hair. 1961Letter scale [see letter-balance].
1934Webster, *Letter-space. 1967Karch & Buber Offset Processes iv. 125 Modification is possible to condense, expand,..letter-space and drop-out shadows in Benday screens.
1959R. Hostettler et al. Technical Terms Printing Industry (ed. 3) 120/2 One point *letter-spaced, espacé un point.
1954Southward's Mod. Printing (ed. 8) I. xxix. 178 *Letterspacing. Spaces are also used for rendering uniform the thick perpendicular lines of capitals and fancy letters. 1961T. Landau Encycl. Librarianship (ed. 2) 195/1 Letter-spacing, extra spacing between the letters of a word, especially in a running title or title-page. 1973Collins's Authors & Printers Dict. (ed. 11) 247/2 Letterspacing,..shown in MS. by a stroke between letters, and {hash} above (one word).
1667Evelyn Pub. Employm. 77 There is nothing more stupid than some of these µουσοπάτακτοι, *letter-struck men.
1862Illustr. Catal. Internat. Exhib., Industr. Dept., Brit. Div. II. No. 5825, Inkstand, pen-tray, blotting-book, book-slide, *letter-weigher. 1907Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 366/2 Folding Portable Letter Weigher..to weigh up to 16 oz...each 1/8.
1880Geo. Eliot Let. 7 Feb. (1956) VII. 249 He left me the beautiful *letter-weight. 1923P. Selver tr. Čapek's R.U.R. i. 5 A large ‘knee-hole’ writing-table on which stand an electric lamp,..letter-weight, [etc.].
1596in Dickson & Edmond Ann. Scot. Printing 478 Followis the Deidis Legacie and *Lettrewill. 1598Ibid. 365 Made his Testament and Lettre-Will.
1698Froger Voy. 129 *Letter-wood (as they call it). 1892Manufacturer's Circular, Letterwood, {pstlg}12 10s. to {pstlg}50 per ton.
1927Joyce Let. 2 Mar. (1957) I. 250 A Chinese student sent me some *letterwords I had asked for. The last one is {horizE}. It means ‘mountain’ and is called ‘Chin’. 1934Priebsch & Collinson Germ. Lang. v. 253 The emergence of ‘letter-words’ like D-zug..L-zug..P.S...G.m.b.H. 1948D. Diringer Alphabet 519 A manuscript containing the poem..of King Alfred's time..which describes in verse each runic letter-word.
1879Farrar St. Paul (1883) 117 The subtler..idolatry of formalism and *letter-worship.
1710Addison Whig Exam. No. 2 ⁋4 Our *Letter-writer here alludes to that known verse in Lucan. 1759(title) The Complete Letter-Writer. 1855Ogilvie, Suppl., Letter-writer..an instrument for copying letters. 1888Athenæum 14 Jan. 43/2 The same desire impels thousands of persons to write letters to the newspapers; but these letter-writers are not usually journalists.
Hence ˈletterlet, ˈletterling nonce-wds., a little letter. † ˈletterly adv., to the letter; literally.
c1440Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) ii. xxvi, Yf they may fulfill letterly [corrected letterally 1499] the commaundementes of god. 1781Twining in T. Papers (1887) 5 Your reproaches about stretch-work, short lines, and letterlings. 1836Coleridge's Lett., Convers., etc. II. 109, I judge..from the numberless Letter-lets in my possession.
Add:[I.] [1.] [a.] Also transf., the smallest meaningful unit of a code, esp. the genetic code.
1954Nature 13 Feb. 318/2 The enzymes..are long peptide chains formed by about twenty different kinds of amino-acids, and can be considered as long ‘words’ based on a 20-letter alphabet. 1957Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. XLIII. 417 Gamow's code was also ‘degenerate’—that is, several sets of three letters (picked in a special way) stood for a particular amino acid. 1962New Scientist 4 Jan. 33/3 Thus the two most important questions have been answered. The code is made up of three-letter words and has to be read consecutively from one end. 1977Time 4 Apr. 39/2 There are certain constraints on the way that the nucleotides, or ‘letters’ of the genetic message are arranged. 1992U.S. News & World Rep. 4 Nov. 69/1 Sickle cell anemia..is the tragic result of a single incorrect letter in the 60,000-letter gene for hemoglobin.
[II.] [8.] [b.] letter-sorting.
1897Patents for Inventions: Abridgments of Specifications 1884–88: Class 52 57/2 Dickson, W... Tables.—Relates to postal or *letter-sorting tables. 1963Hansard Commons: Written Answers 2 Aug. 203 Mr. Mawby: Current contracts are as follows... One contract..covering three items—a high-speed letter sorting machine, a single position letter sorting machine and a letter coding desk. 1993H. Petroski Evolution of Useful Things 35 Rabinow holds 225 patents for devices ranging from self-regulators for watches and clocks to the automatic letter-sorting machines used by the Post Office.
[9.] letter-drop, (b) = drop n. 17 d; also, the act or practice of placing a letter, information, etc., in a letter-drop.
1971‘A. Hall’ Warsaw Document iii. 32 He delivers the goods by letter-drop and he's caught doing it because he's meant to be. 1975Forbes (N.Y.) 1 July 70/1 We've got a letter drop in Nassau, but who doesn't? We do have an equity investment in a European bank, but we're not in any consortia. 1978Washington Post 5 July a16/6 One of the men said that their ‘Suite 6’ does not receive much mail for the Club, that they serve several other clients as a letter drop, [etc.]. 1989N.Y. Times 17 Sept. vi. 82 He also admitted making dead letter drops to the Russians but it is now conceded that any information he did pass was to dupe the Russians.
letter jacket N. Amer., a blouson-style jacket in school or college colours with an embroidered or sewn-on letter, orig. indicating achievement in sport (see sense 1 e above).
1974J. Irving 158-Pound Marriage ii. 35 He wore a blatant college *letter-jacket, black with leather sleeves and a thick, oversized gold ‘I’ on the breast. 1985New Yorker 28 Jan. 66/2 In Bydalek's classroom sat twenty gangly examples of the modern yeoman class, wearing letter jackets, their hair teased and blow-dried, their faces happily expectant.
letter sweater N. Amer. = *letter jacket above.
1959Times Lit. Suppl. 18 Dec. 737/1 Football is God, a letter sweater the height of ambition for the boys (for the girls it is to be chosen as cheer leader..). 1989Washington Post 22 July c1/2 Archie, the eternal teen, has graduated from saddle shoes and letter sweaters to jeans and sneakers.
▪ II. letter, n.2|ˈlɛtə(r)|
Also 5 letere, 8 Sc. latter.
[f. let v.1 + -er1.]
One who lets, in senses of the vb.; esp. one who allows another the use of (apartments, a horse, house, etc.) for hire.
1552Huloet, Letter of house or lande, cœnacularius. 1671Crowne Juliana i. Dram. Wks. 1873 I. 28 By his tone a kind of letter of lodgings. 1723Lond. Gaz. No. 6175/6 Thomas Jenkins,..Letter of Horses. 1851Mayhew Lond. Labour (1861) II. 230 The letters of rooms are the most exacting in places crowded with the poor. 1885Law Reports 14 Q. Bench Div. 892 The relation..between hirers and letters of private carriages. 1893Field 10 June 832/1 Builders and letters of boats might object.
b. In Comb., as agent-noun corresponding to various phrasal combinations of the vb., as † letter-blood, letter-loose, letter-out; letter-go, one who ‘lets go’; in Sc. use (letter-gae) a jocular synonym for ‘precentor’, after A. Ramsay (quot. 1715).
c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 299 A man þat schal be letere blood schal be ȝong. 1611Markham Country Content. i. vii. (1615) 104 He which was chosen Fewterer or letter loose of the Grey-hounds. 1616B. Jonson Horace's Art Poetry 234 A careless letter-go Of money. 1671H. M. tr. Erasm. Colloq. 267 The letter out of the Horses at first was silent. 1715Ramsay Christ's Kirk Gr. ii. xvi, The latter gae of haly rhime, Sat up at the boord-head. c1750Aston Suppl. to Cibber 8 She [Mrs. Bracegirdle] was the Daughter of a..Letter-out of Coaches. 1815Scott Guy M. xi, There was no sae money hairs on the warlock's face as there's on Letter-Gae's ain at this moment. 1847Whistle-Binkie (Scot. Songs) Ser. v. (1890) II. 169 The lettergae trying new tunes.
▪ III. † ˈletter, n.3 Obs.
Also 4 lettere, -our, 4–6 lettar(e.
[f. let v.2 + -er1.]
One who lets or hinders.
a1300Cursor M. 16888 Yond traitur, yond letter of vr lai. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 67 He is a lettere of loue. 1387–8T. Usk Test. Love i. iii. (Skeat) l. 126 For soche lettours, it is harde any soche iewell to winne. 1434Misyn Mending Life 107 Violence he doys to all his lettars. 1494Fabyan Chron. vii. ccxlii. 283 The letter of this iourney..was Rycharde duke of Guyon. 1523Act 14 & 15 Hen. VIII, c. 1 If any clothmaker..be letted..than the letter..to..forfait..xiid. 1563Abp. Parker Articles, Whether your Persons, Vicars and Curates be..letters of good religion. 1616J. Davies Complim. Verses in Capt. Smith's Descr. New Eng., Thy Letters are as Letters in thy praise.
▪ IV. letter, v.|ˈlɛtə(r)|
[f. letter n.1]
†1. trans. To instruct in letters or learning. Obs.
c1460G. Ashby Policy Prince 648 Poems (E.E.T.S.) 33 Yf god sende you children..Do theim to be lettred right famously.
2. To exhibit or set forth by means of letters; also, to distinguish by means of letters.
1668Wilkins Real Char. iv. iv. 440 It would be convenient, that every one of these Instances should be Philosophically Lettered. 1869Tyndall Notes Lect. Light 46 Fraunhofer..lettered them and made accurate maps of them. 1877Farrar In Days of Youth i. 3 He [God] letters it [his name] in fire amid the stars of heaven.
3. To affix a name or title in letters upon (a book, a shop, etc.); to inscribe (a name) in letters. Also, to inscribe with (something).
1712Addison Spect. No. 463 ⁋7, I observed one particular Weight lettered on both sides. 1714Lond. Gaz. No. 5225/3 The binding each Book will be..4s. Letter'd on the Back. 1755Johnson Let. to Warton 20 Mar. in Boswell, I hope to see my Dictionary bound and lettered next week. 1844E. Warburton Crescent & Cross (1845) II. 420 The greater number of the shops are lettered in the same tongue [Italian]. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. iv. xxxiii, There might be a hundred Ezra Cohens lettered above shop-windows. 1877Act 40 & 41 Vict. c. 60 §3 Every canal boat..shall be lettered, marked, and numbered in some conspicuous manner.
4. intr. In occasional uses.
a. To carry letters.
b. To write letters.
c1645,1813[see lettering]. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge xxiv, Our people go backwards and forwards..lettering, and messaging. 1861Bp. Wilberforce Diary 22 Feb. in Life (1882) III. i. 15 Did not go out at night, but lettered.
▸ intr. N. Amer. To be awarded a varsity letter acknowledging achievement in a sport. Cf. varsity letter n. at varsity n. Additions.
1925Decatur (Illinois) Rev. 15 Mar. 16/4 He lettered in football, basketball, baseball, track and tennis, making a fine showing in all of them. 1971W. Grimsley Tennis ii. 36 Campbell..was succeeded by Robert D. Wrenn, a Harvard student who lettered in football, hockey and baseball. 2003Washington Post (Electronic ed.) 10 Aug. c11 Norwoods's daughter, Sandra, lettered in three sports in high school. |