à la lettre

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à la lettre

\a la lɛtʁ\
[a la lɛtʁ] France (Île de France)

Where it comes from

→ voir lettre

adverb

Dans son sens littéral ; précisément comme il est écrit, sans interpréter. Il arriva qu’un hiver fut rude. Jean n’eut pas d’ouvrage. La famille n'eut pas de pain. Pas de pain. A la lettre. Sept enfants.

Thesaurus

adverb

In English

by the book in a manner which adheres strictly to rules
to the letter idiomatic for “literally”, following the rules as they're written

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Cite this

MLA

"à la lettre." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/fr/%C3%A0%20la%20lettre. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

APA

à la lettre. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/fr/%C3%A0%20la%20lettre

Chicago

"à la lettre." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/fr/%C3%A0%20la%20lettre.

BibTeX

@misc{a_la_lettre_2026,
  title = {à la lettre},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/fr/%C3%A0%20la%20lettre},
  urldate = {2026-11-07}
}