English → Latin
“letters” in Latin
litteraletter (of the alphabet); handwriting; letter, epistlelitterātuslearned, educated, scholarly, literate; cultured, eruditeērudiōto instruct, to educate; to cultivate, to refinedoceōto produce
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
letters s.
plur. = learning, litterae, humanitatis studia (Cic.): a man unacquainted with letter, homo litterarum et politioris humanitatis expers (Cic., Or., 1, 60): men of letter, homines periti et humani (Cic.): man of letter, litteratus (learned, erudite); eruditus; homo doctrina, atque optimarum artium studiis, eruditus (Cic.): the world or republic of letter, docti homines, or simply, docti; eruditi homines, or simply, eruditi (i. e., the learned). ☞ Not vitas litterata or erudita; nor respublica litteraria, orbis litteratus.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for letters?
- The usual Latin words for “letters” are littera, litterātus, ērudiō; also doceō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.