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What is the difference between letter and number?

letter | number |

In transitive terms the difference between letter and number

is that letter is to print, inscribe, or paint letters on something while number is to label (items) with numbers; to assign numbers to (items).

As an adjective number is

comparative of numb.

letter

English

(wikipedia letter)

Etymology 1

(etyl) letter, lettre, from (etyl) letre, from (etyl) .

Noun

(en noun)
  • A symbol in an alphabet.
  • * Bible, (w) xxiii. 38
  • And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew.
  • A written or printed communication, generally longer and more formal than a note.
  • * (1662-1708)
  • The style of letters ought to be free, easy, and natural.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
  • , chapter=1 citation , passage=He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement.}}
  • *
  • *:An indulgent playmate, Grannie would lay aside the long scratchy-looking letter she was writing (heavily crossed ‘to save notepaper’) and enter into the delightful pastime of ‘a chicken from Mr Whiteley's’.
  • Literal meaning.
  • * (Jeremy Taylor) (1613–1677)
  • We must observe the letter of the law, without doing violence to the reason of the law and the intention of the lawgiver.
  • * (1809-1892)
  • I broke the letter of it to keep the sense.
  • * 2009 , 23 February, BBC, Euro MP expenses 'can reach £1m'
  • Some MEPs from some countries may have pocketed £2m more than I have by observing the letter but not the spirit of the rules.
  • (plural) Literature.
  • A size of paper, 8½ in]] × 11 in (215.9 [[millimetre, mm × 279.4 mm, US paper sizes rounded to the nearest 5 mm).
  • A size of paper, 215 mm × 280 mm.
  • A single type; type, collectively; a style of type.
  • * (John Evelyn) (1620-1706)
  • Under these buildingswas the king's printing house, and that famous letter so much esteemed.
    Synonyms
    * bookstave
    Hyponyms
    * epistle * missive
    Derived terms
    * accountant's letter * advisory letter * air letter * black letter * capital letter * chain letter * comfort letter * commercial letter of credit * cover letter * covering letter * crank letter * day letter * dead letter office * Dear John letter * deficiency letter * domincal letter * drop letter * encyclical letter * fan letter * form letter * four-letter/four-letter word * French letter * guarantee letter * investment letter * irrevocable letter of credit * letter blindness * letter bomb * letter bond * letter box * letter carrier * letter case * letter missive * letter of administration * letter of attorney * letter of comfort * letter of comment * letter of credence * letter of credit * letter of guarantee * letter of indemnity * letter of intent * Letter of Jeremiah * letter of marque * letter of motivation * letter of the law * letter opener * letter paper * letter perfect/letter-perfect * letter-quality * letter security * letter stock * letter telegram * letterform * letterhead * letterman * letterure * love letter * market letter * news letter/news-letter/newsletter * night letter * no-action letter * open letter * night letter * poison-pen letter * red letter * scarlet letter * sea letter * small letter * swash letter * to the letter * transmittal letter * varsity letter

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • to print, inscribe, or paint letters on something.
  • (intransitive, US, scholastic) To earn a varsity letter (award).
  • Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One who lets, or lets out.
  • the letter of a room
    a blood-letter
  • (archaic) One who retards or hinders.
  • Statistics

    *

    number

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (l) (obsolete)

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (countable) An abstract entity used to describe quantity.
  • (countable) A numeral: a symbol for a non-negative integer
  • (countable, mathematics) A member of one of several classes: natural numbers, integers, rational numbers, real numbers, complex numbers, quaternions.
  • Indicating the position of something in a list or sequence. Abbreviations: No'' or '' (in each case, sometimes written with a superscript "o", like Nº or №). The symbol "#" is also used in this manner.
  • Quantity.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-08, volume=407, issue=8839, page=52, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The new masters and commanders , passage=From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • Number itself importeth not much in armies where the people are of weak courage.
  • A sequence of digits and letters used to register people, automobiles, and various other items.
  • (countable, informal) A telephone number.
  • * 2001 , E. Forrest Hein, The Ruach Project, Xulon Press, page 86:
  • “[...] I wonder if you could get hold of him and have him call me here at Interior. I’m in my office, do you have my number ?”
  • * 2007 , Lindsey Nicole Isham, No Sex in the City: One Virgin's Confessions on Love, Lust, Dating, and Waiting, Kregel Publications, page 111:
  • When I agreed to go surfing with him he said, “Great, can I have your number'?” Well, I don’t give my ' number to guys I don’t know.
  • (grammar) Of a word or phrase, the state of being singular, dual or plural, shown by inflection.
  • (now, rare, in the plural) Poetic metres; verses, rhymes.
  • * 1635 , (John Donne), The Triple Foole :
  • Griefe brought to numbers cannot be so fierce, / For, he tames it, that fetters it in verse.
  • (countable) A performance; especially, a single song or song and dance routine within a larger show.
  • (countable, informal) A person
  • * 1968 , Janet Burroway, The dancer from the dance: a novel, Little, Brown, page 40:
  • I laughed. "Don't doubt that. She's a saucy little number ."
  • * 1988 , Erica Jong, Serenissima, Dell, page 214:
  • "Signorina Jessica," says the maid, a saucy little number , "your father has gone to his prayers and demands that you come to the synagogue at once [...]"
  • * 2005 , Denise A. Agnew, Kate Hill & Arianna Hart, By Honor Bound, Ellora's Cave Publishing, page 207:
  • He had to focus on the mission, staying alive and getting out, not on the sexy number rubbing up against him.
  • (countable, informal) An item of clothing, particularly a stylish one
  • * 2007 , Cesca Martin, Agony Angel: So You Think You've Got Problems..., Troubador Publishing Ltd, page 134:
  • The trouble was I was wearing my backless glittering number from the night before underneath, so unless I could persuade the office it was National Fancy Dress Day I was doomed to sweat profusely in bottle blue.
  • * 2007 , Lorelei James, Running with the Devil, Samhain Publishing, Ltd, page 46:
  • "I doubt the sexy number you wore earlier tonight fell from the sky."
  • (slang, chiefly, US) A marijuana cigarette, or joint; also, a quantity of marijuana bought form a dealer.
  • * 2009 , (Thomas Pynchon), Inherent Vice , Vintage 2010, page 12:
  • Back at his place again, Doc rolled a number , put on a late movie, found an old T-shirt, and sat tearing it up into short strips
  • (dated) An issue of a periodical publication.
  • the latest number of a magazine
    Synonyms
    * (mathematical number) scalar
    Hyponyms
    * See also
    Derived terms
    * abundant number * algebraic number * binary number * cardinal number * complex number * decimal number * deficient number * do a number on * have someone's number * hexadecimal number * house number * hyperreal number * hypercomplex number * imaginary number * irrational number * meandric number * natural number * nice round number * number-cruncher * number-crunching * number field * number line * number one * number two * number theory * numberless * ordinal number * opposite number * perfect number * phone number * prime number * rational number * real number * round number * serial number * surreal number * take a number * telephone number * transcendental number * transfinite number * whole number * without number * (number)
    See also
    * (grammatical numbers) singular,? dual,? trial,? quadral,? paucal,? plural

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To label (items) with numbers; to assign numbers to (items).
  • Number the baskets so that we can find them easily.
  • To total or count; to amount to.
  • I don’t know how many books are in the library, but they must number in the thousands.
    Derived terms
    * number among

    See also

    *

    Etymology 2

    From numb + .

    Adjective

    (head)
  • (numb)