litera

See also: literā, literă, and littera

Basque

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish litera, from Catalan llitera.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liteɾa/ [li.t̪e.ɾa]
• Rhymes: -eɾa, -a
• Hyphenation: li‧te‧ra

Noun

litera inan (Southern)

1. bunk bed (piece of furniture made up of two beds stacked on top of each other)
2. bunk (each of the two beds that make up a bunk bed)

Declension

Declension of litera (inan a-stem)

	indefinite	singular	plural	proximal plural
absolutive	litera	litera	literak	literok
ergative	literak	literak	literek	literok
dative	literari	literari	literei	literoi
genitive	literaren	literaren	literen	literon
comitative	literarekin	literarekin	literekin	literokin
causative	literarengatik	literarengatik	literengatik	literongatik
benefactive	literarentzat	literarentzat	literentzat	literontzat
instrumental	literaz	literaz	literez	literotaz
inessive	literatan	literan	literetan	literotan
locative	literatako	literako	literetako	literotako
allative	literatara	literara	literetara	literotara
terminative	literataraino	literaraino	literetaraino	literotaraino
directive	literatarantz	literarantz	literetarantz	literotarantz
destinative	literatarako	literarako	literetarako	literotarako
ablative	literatatik	literatik	literetatik	literotatik
partitive	literarik	—	—	—
prolative	literatzat	—	—	—

Further reading

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

Czech

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH-der.

Old Latin leitera

Latin līterader.?

Proto-Hellenic *dipʰtʰérā?

Ancient Greek διφθέρᾱ (diphthérā)bor.

Etruscan [Term?]bor.?

Latin litterabor.

Czech litera

Borrowed from Latin littera.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɪtɛra]
• Hyphenation: li‧te‧ra

Noun

litera f

1. (higher register) letter (letter of the alphabet)

   Synonym: písmeno

Declension

Declension of litera (hard feminine)

	singular	plural
nominative	litera	litery
genitive	litery	liter
dative	liteře	literám
accusative	literu	litery
vocative	litero	litery
locative	liteře	literách
instrumental	literou	literami

Derived terms

• Litera
• literatura
• literát
• liteřina

Further reading

• “litera”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “litera”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈliː.tɛ.ra]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈliː.te.ra]

Noun

lītera f (genitive līterae); first declension

1. alternative form of littera
   • 1833, Joannis Schulek, Grammatica latina, Szakolczae, page 5:

     Latini habent literas viginti quinque: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, ſ, (s), t, u, v, x, y, z.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	lītera	līterae
genitive	līterae	līterārum
dative	līterae	līterīs
accusative	līteram	līterās
ablative	līterā	līterīs
vocative	lītera	līterae

References

• “litera”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “litera”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "litera", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “litera”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• litera, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

Latvian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin littera.

Noun

litera f (4th declension)

1. synonym of burtstabiņš

Declension

Declension of litera (4th)

	singular	plural
nominative	litera	literas
genitive	literas	literu
dative	literai	literām
accusative	literu	literas
instrumental	literu	literām
locative	literā	literās
vocative	litera	literas

Malagasy

Etymology

From English letter.

Noun

litera

1. letter (of the alphabet)

Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH-der.

Old Latin leitera

Latin līterader.?

Proto-Hellenic *dipʰtʰérā?

Ancient Greek διφθέρᾱ (diphthérā)bor.

Etruscan [Term?]bor.?

Latin litteralbor.

Polish litera

Learned borrowing from Latin littera.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liˈtɛ.ra/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛra
• Syllabification: li‧te‧ra

Noun

litera f (diminutive literka)

1. letter (letter of the alphabet)

Declension

Declension of litera

	singular	plural
nominative	litera	litery
genitive	litery	liter
dative	literze	literom
accusative	literę	litery
instrumental	literą	literami
locative	literze	literach
vocative	litero	litery

Derived terms

nouns

• liternictwo
• liternik
• literowiec
• literówka

verbs

• literować impf

verbs

• składać litery impf

Related terms

adjectives

• aliteracki
• literacki
• literalny
• literniczy

adverbs

• literacko
• literalnie

nouns

• antyliteratura
• literacina
• literat
• literatka
• literatura

Further reading

• “litera”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “litera”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)

Romanian

Etymology 1

From literă +‎ -a.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liteˈra/

Verb

a litera (third-person singular present literează, past participle literat) 1st conjugation

1. to letter

Conjugation

    conjugation of litera (first conjugation, -ez- infix)

infinitive			a litera
gerund			literând
past participle			literat
number		singular			plural
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	literez	literezi	literează	literăm	literați	literează
	imperfect	literam	literai	litera	literam	literați	literau
	simple perfect	literai	literași	literă	literarăm	literarăți	literară
	pluperfect	literasem	literaseși	literase	literaserăm	literaserăți	literaseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	să literez	să literezi	să litereze	să literăm	să literați	să litereze
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		literează			literați
	negative		nu litera			nu literați

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlitera/

Noun

litera

1. definite nominative/accusative singular of literă

Spanish

Una litera en un dormitorio ― A bunk bed in a bedroom

Unas literas en un tren ― Some couchettes in a train

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-der.

Latin lectus

Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.

Proto-Italic *-āzios

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -ārius

Latin -āria

Late Latin lectuāria

Old Catalan litera

Catalan lliterabor.

Spanish litera

Borrowed from Catalan llitera, from Late Latin lectuāria, from Latin lectus (“bed”). First attested in 1600. A native Castilian outcome, for comparison, may have been *lechera.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liˈteɾa/ [liˈt̪e.ɾa]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɾa
• Syllabification: li‧te‧ra

Noun

litera f (plural literas)

1. bunk bed (piece of furniture made up of two beds stacked on top of each other)
2. bunk (each of the two beds that make up a bunk bed)
3. berth, couchette (on a ship or train)

   Synonym: camarote

4. litter (vehicle)

   Synonym: carruaje

Further reading

• “litera”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025