letter (2 ‘hunt the letter’, ‘lick the letter’ were other Eliz. phrases)
1.
“no letter,” not a word
Cym. IV. iii. 36.
2.
“affect the ,” practise
alliteration LLL. IV. ii. 56.
3.
pl. with sing. sense,
esp.=formal communication issued by authority Ado I. i. 20, 1H6 V. iv. 95, R3 IV. v. 20 (Qq “These l-s,” Ff “My ”), Oth. IV. i. 286;=letter
of recommendation Err. V. i.
138; cf.
Oth. I. i. 36
“by ”
(i.e. by commendatory letter, by favour).
4.
literal meaning,
literalness
Oth. I. iii. 68
“in the bitter ,”
Cym. V. v. 451
“Answering the letter of
the oracle.”
5.
learning Tp. II. i. 157 [150],
Per. IV. Gower 8
“train'd In music's
l-s”
(mod. edd. “music,
l-s”†); also “good l-s” in the same sense 2H4 IV. i. 44.
