"to the letter" meaning in English

See to the letter in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

Audio: En-au-to the letter.ogg
Head templates: {{en-adv|-}} to the letter (not comparable)
  1. (idiomatic) Literally, exactly, following the rules as written. Tags: idiomatic, not-comparable Related terms: by the book, by the numbers, letter of the law, literalism Coordinate_terms: without fail Translations (idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written): တစ်သဝေမတိမ်း (tacsa.wema.tim:) (Burmese), a la lletra (Catalan), al peu de la lletra (Catalan), ᏗᏟᎶᏍᏔᏅ (ditlilostanv) (Cherokee), kirjaimellisesti (Finnish), à la lettre (French), au pied de la lettre (French), à la virgule près (French), ao pé da letra (Galician), bis ins Kleinste (German), alla lettera (Italian), 細大を漏らさず (saidai o morasazu) (Japanese), 글자 그대로 (geulja geudaero) (Korean), wuertwiertlech (Luxembourgish), အတိုၚ်လိက်ဂှ် (Mon), အတိုၚ်အက္ခရ်ဂှ် (Mon), til punkt og prikke (Norwegian), dosłownie (Polish), co do joty (Polish), ao pé da letra (Portuguese), à letra (Portuguese), à risca (Portuguese), a la letra (Spanish), al pie de la letra (Spanish), a pies juntillas (Spanish), al dedillo (Spanish), a rajatabla (Spanish), a la ley (Spanish), como el agüita (Spanish), till punkt och pricka (Swedish), harfiyen (Turkish), harfi harfine (Turkish)
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          "word": "without fail"
        }
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        {
          "text": "You should follow what your boss said to the letter. Otherwise, you'll lose your job.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Phil McNulty, “Euro 2012: Montenegro 2-2 England”, in BBC News:",
          "text": "Capello warned his players that caution was not an option as they went in search of the result that would take England to Euro 2012. And his message was carried out to the letter in the opening exchanges as England played with a tempo and threat Montenegro struggled to subdue.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Literally, exactly, following the rules as written."
      ],
      "id": "en-to_the_letter-en-adv-eqEJZEMI",
      "links": [
        [
          "Literally",
          "literally"
        ],
        [
          "exactly",
          "exactly"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Literally, exactly, following the rules as written."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "by the book"
        },
        {
          "word": "by the numbers"
        },
        {
          "word": "letter of the law"
        },
        {
          "word": "literalism"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "my",
          "lang": "Burmese",
          "roman": "tacsa.wema.tim:",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "တစ်သဝေမတိမ်း"
        },
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "a la lletra"
        },
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "al peu de la lletra"
        },
        {
          "code": "chr",
          "lang": "Cherokee",
          "roman": "ditlilostanv",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "ᏗᏟᎶᏍᏔᏅ"
        },
        {
          "code": "mnw",
          "lang": "Mon",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "အတိုၚ်လိက်ဂှ်"
        },
        {
          "code": "mnw",
          "lang": "Mon",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "အတိုၚ်အက္ခရ်ဂှ်"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "kirjaimellisesti"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "à la lettre"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "au pied de la lettre"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "à la virgule près"
        },
        {
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "ao pé da letra"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "bis ins Kleinste"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "alla lettera"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "saidai o morasazu",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "細大を漏らさず"
        },
        {
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "roman": "geulja geudaero",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "글자 그대로"
        },
        {
          "code": "lb",
          "lang": "Luxembourgish",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "wuertwiertlech"
        },
        {
          "code": "no",
          "lang": "Norwegian",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "til punkt og prikke"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "dosłownie"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "co do joty"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "ao pé da letra"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "à letra"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "à risca"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "a la letra"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "al pie de la letra"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "a pies juntillas"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "al dedillo"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "a rajatabla"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "a la ley"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "como el agüita"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "till punkt och pricka"
        },
        {
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "harfiyen"
        },
        {
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
          "word": "harfi harfine"
        }
      ]
    }
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  "word": "to the letter"
}
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  "coordinate_terms": [
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      "word": "without fail"
    }
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  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "-"
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      "expansion": "to the letter (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adv"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "by the book"
    },
    {
      "word": "by the numbers"
    },
    {
      "word": "letter of the law"
    },
    {
      "word": "literalism"
    }
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        "English uncomparable adverbs",
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        "Terms with Burmese translations",
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        "Terms with Galician translations",
        "Terms with German translations",
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        "Terms with Japanese translations",
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        "Terms with Luxembourgish translations",
        "Terms with Mon translations",
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        "Terms with Polish translations",
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        "Terms with Spanish translations",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "You should follow what your boss said to the letter. Otherwise, you'll lose your job.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Phil McNulty, “Euro 2012: Montenegro 2-2 England”, in BBC News:",
          "text": "Capello warned his players that caution was not an option as they went in search of the result that would take England to Euro 2012. And his message was carried out to the letter in the opening exchanges as England played with a tempo and threat Montenegro struggled to subdue.",
          "type": "quote"
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      "glosses": [
        "Literally, exactly, following the rules as written."
      ],
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          "Literally",
          "literally"
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        [
          "exactly",
          "exactly"
        ]
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        "(idiomatic) Literally, exactly, following the rules as written."
      ],
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        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable"
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "my",
      "lang": "Burmese",
      "roman": "tacsa.wema.tim:",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "တစ်သဝေမတိမ်း"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "a la lletra"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "al peu de la lletra"
    },
    {
      "code": "chr",
      "lang": "Cherokee",
      "roman": "ditlilostanv",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "ᏗᏟᎶᏍᏔᏅ"
    },
    {
      "code": "mnw",
      "lang": "Mon",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "အတိုၚ်လိက်ဂှ်"
    },
    {
      "code": "mnw",
      "lang": "Mon",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "အတိုၚ်အက္ခရ်ဂှ်"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "kirjaimellisesti"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "à la lettre"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "au pied de la lettre"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "à la virgule près"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "ao pé da letra"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "bis ins Kleinste"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "alla lettera"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "saidai o morasazu",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "細大を漏らさず"
    },
    {
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "geulja geudaero",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "글자 그대로"
    },
    {
      "code": "lb",
      "lang": "Luxembourgish",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "wuertwiertlech"
    },
    {
      "code": "no",
      "lang": "Norwegian",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "til punkt og prikke"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "dosłownie"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "co do joty"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "ao pé da letra"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "à letra"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "à risca"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "a la letra"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "al pie de la letra"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "a pies juntillas"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "al dedillo"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "a rajatabla"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "a la ley"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "como el agüita"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "till punkt och pricka"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "harfiyen"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written",
      "word": "harfi harfine"
    }
  ],
  "word": "to the letter"
}

Download raw JSONL data for to the letter meaning in English (7.0kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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