Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

L

(ĕl)

Noun.

L is the twelfth letter of the English alphabet, and a vocal consonant. It is usually called a semivowel or liquid. Its form and value are from the Greek, through the Latin, the form of the Greek letter being from the Phœnician, and the ultimate origin prob. Egyptian. Etymologically, it is most closely related to r and u; as in pilgrim, peregrine, couch (fr. collocare), aubura (fr. LL. alburnus).

At the end of monosyllables containing a single vowel, it is often doubled, as in fall, full, bell; but not after digraphs, as in foul, fool, prowl, growl, foal. In English words, the terminating syllable le is unaccented, the e is silent, and l is preceded by a voice glide, as in able, eagle, pronounced

ā′b’l

ē′g’l

. See Guide to Pronunciation, §241.

As a numeral, L stands for fifty in the English, as in the Latin language.

For 50 the Romans used the Chalcidian chi, [GREEK], which assumed the less difficult lapidary type, [GREEK], and was then easily assimilated to L.

I. Taylor (The Alphabet).

L

(ĕl)

Noun.

An extension at right angles to the length of a main building, giving to the ground plan a form resembling the letter

; sometimes less properly applied to a narrower, or lower, extension in the direction of the length of the main building; a wing.

[Written also

ell

(Mech.)

A short right-angled pipe fitting, used in connecting two pipes at right angles.

[Written also

ell

Webster 1828 Edition

L

, the twelfth letter of the English alphabet, is usually denominated a semi-vowel, or a liquid. It represents an imperfect articulation, formed by placing the tip of the tongue against the gum that incloses the roots of the upper teeth; but the sides of the tongue not being in close contact with the roof of the mouth, the breath of course not being entirely intercepted, this articulation is attended with an imperfect sound. The shape of the letter is evidently borrowed from that of the oriental lamed, or lomad, nearly coinciding with the Samaritan 2.

L

has only one sound in English, as in like, canal. At the end of monosyllables, it is often doubled, as in fall, full, tell, bell; but not after diphthongs and digraphs; foul, fool, prowl, growel, foal, &c. being written with a single l.

With some nations, l and r are commutable; as in Greek, L. lilium.

In some words, l is mute, as in half, calf, walk, talk, chalk.

In English words, the terminating syllable le is unaccented, the e is silent, and l has a feeble sound; as in able, eagle, pronounced abl, eagl.

As a number L denotes 50, and with a dash above the L, 50,000. As an abbreviation, in Latin, it stands for Lucius; and L.L.S. for a sesterce, or two librae and a half.

Definition 2024

L

L	U+004C, L LATIN CAPITAL LETTER L

← K
[U+004B]

Basic Latin

M →
[U+004D]

See also: Appendix:Variations of "l", ㄴ, and ℓ

Translingual

Letter

L upper case (lower case l)

The twelfth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

Symbol

Symbol for liter or litre.
Symbol for the Roman numeral 50; Previous XLIX 49, Next LI 51
(biochemistry) IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation for leucine
(set theory) Constructible universe
(computer science) Deterministic logarithmic space

Synonyms

(liter, litre): l
(Roman numeral): ↆ (obsolete)

English

Pronunciation

(letter) IPA^(key): /ɛl/
(phoneme) IPA^(key): /l/
(main allophones) IPA^(key): [l], [ɫ]

Letter

L ‎(upper case, lower case l, plural Ls or L's)

The twelfth letter of the English alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.

Number

L ‎(upper case, lower case l)

The ordinal number twelfth, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

Noun

(sports) The statistic for the number of losses by a team or player limited by some criteria (e.g. this season, at home, on turf)
Alternative spelling of el ‎(“elevated train”)
- 1925 February 21, "Co-operation" (cartoon), The New Yorker, page 2,
  PLEASE! HELP US KEEP THE "L" AND SUBWAY CLEAN

Derived terms

(sports): OTL

Abbreviation

(US, politics) Libertarian.
Latin Language
Lira
Low Pressure Front
Left
Lobby
Liber
(linguistics) low (variety of a language with limited prestige and official acceptance)
an L variety

American Sign Language

Letter

‎(Stokoe L)

The letter L

Azeri

Letter

L upper case (lower case l)

The eighteenth letter of the Azeri alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Dutch

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /ɛl/

Letter

L ‎(capital, lowercase l)

The twelfth letter of the Dutch alphabet.

Esperanto

Letter

L ‎(upper case, lower case l)

The fifteenth letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called lo and written in the Latin script.

Abbreviation

(text messaging) Abbreviation of li ‎(“he”).

Finnish

Letter

L ‎(upper case, lower case l)

The twelfth letter of the Finnish alphabet, called äl or el and written in the Latin script.

Abbreviation

laudatur

Galician

Abbreviation

leste (east)

Synonyms

(east): E

German

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʔɛl/

Letter

L ‎(upper case, lower case l)

The twelfth letter of the German alphabet.

Etymology 2

Abbreviation.

Noun

L m

Abbreviation of Liter.

German Sign Language

Etymology

Related to the French Sign Language sign for "L".

Production

This one-handed GSL sign is produced as follows:

Posture the dominant hand in the “L” shape.

Letter

the letter L

Ido

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

L ‎(lower case l)

The twelfth letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Italian

Pronunciation

(name of letter) IPA^(key): /ˈɛlle/
(phoneme) IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

L m, f ‎(invariable, lower case l)

The tenth letter of the Italian alphabet, called elle and written in the Latin script.

Latvian

Etymology

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [l]

Letter

L ‎(upper case, lower case l)

The eighteenth letter of the Latvian alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.

Malay

Pronunciation

(Name of letter) IPA^(key): [ɛl]
(Phoneme) IPA^(key): [l]

Letter

The twelfth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Portuguese

Letter

L ‎(upper case, lower case l)

The twelfth letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Romanian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /el/

Letter

L (capital, lowercase l)

The fifteenth letter of the Romanian alphabet representing the phoneme /l/. Preceded by K and followed by M.

Saanich

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /l/, /lʼ/

Letter

The eighteenth letter of the Saanich alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

L ‎(lower case l)

The twentieth letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Slovene

Letter

L ‎(capital, lowercase l)

The 13th letter of the Slovene alphabet. Preceded by K and followed by M.

Somali

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/
(letter name): IPA^(key): /læːn/

Letter

L upper case (lower case l)

The seventeenth letter of the Somali alphabet, called laan and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

The seventeenth letter of the Somali alphabet, which follows Arabic abjad order. It is preceded by K and followed by M.

Spanish

Letter

L ‎(upper case, lower case l)

The 12th letter of the Spanish alphabet.

Turkish

Letter

L ‎(upper case, lower case l)

The fifteenth letter of the Turkish alphabet, called le and written in the Latin script.

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɛ˧˧ l̪əːɰ˨˩/, /l̪əːɰ˨˩ kaːw˧˧/, /l̪əːɰ˨˩]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɛ˧˧ ləːɰ˧˧/, /ləːɰ˧˧ kaːw˧˧/, /ləːɰ˧˧]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔɛ˧˥ l̻ʲəːɰ˨˩/, /l̻ʲəːɰ˨˩ kaːw˧˥/, /l̻ʲəːɰ˨˩]
Phonetic: e lờ, lờ cao, lờ

Letter

L ‎(upper case, lower case l)

The fourteenth letter of the Vietnamese alphabet, called e-lờ, lờ cao or lờ and written in the Latin script.

l

l	U+006C, l LATIN SMALL LETTER L

← k
[U+006B]

Basic Latin

m →
[U+006D]

See also: I, 1, ӏ, Ӏ, and Appendix:Variations of "l"

Translingual

Letter

l lower case (upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

Quotations

For usage examples of this term, see Citations:l.

Pronunciation

Symbol

(IPA) alveolar lateral approximant.
litre or liter
The Roman numeral representing 50.
(linear) length (arclength is often denoted with a cursive l)

Quotations

For usage examples of this term, see Citations:l.

Synonyms

(litre): L

English

Pronunciation

(letter name)IPA^(key): /ɛl/

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /l/
(main allophones) IPA^(key): [l], [ɫ]

Letter

l ‎(lower case, upper case L, plural l's)

The twelfth letter of the English alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.

Number

l ‎(lower case, upper case L)

The ordinal number twelfth, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

Abbreviation.

Noun

litre, liter
pound (sterling) (from Latin libra)
- 1837, Joseph Chitty, The Practice of the Law in All Its Principal Departments (page 116)
  And where a barrister, in summing up the items proved before him as arbitrator, misadded them, and thereby by mistake omitted 23l. in favour of the plaintiff, the Court, even at the instance of the barrister, would not allow an amendment, the defendant's counsel objecting.

Etymology 3

Interjection

(Internet slang) Short for lol.

Azeri

Letter

l lower case (upper case L)

The eighteenth letter of the Azeri alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Dutch

Pronunciation

Rhymes: -ɛl
(letter name): IPA^(key): /ɛl/

Letter

l ‎(lower case, upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the Dutch alphabet.

Noun

l m ‎(plural l'en, diminutive l'etje n)

(euphemistic) Short for lul or any other word starting with an l.

Esperanto

Pronunciation

Letter

l ‎(lower case, upper case L)

The fifteenth letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called lo and written in the Latin script.

Faroese

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l ‎(upper case L)

The fourteenth letter of the Faroese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Haitian Creole

Etymology

Contraction of li, from French lui.

Pronoun

Contraction of li.

Ido

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l ‎(upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Italian

Noun

l m, f ‎(invariable)

See under L

Ladin

Article

l m ‎(singular)

Latvian

Etymology

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [l]

Letter

l ‎(lower case, upper case L)

The eighteenth letter of the Latvian alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.

Livonian

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l ‎(upper case L)

The seventeenth letter of the Livonian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Malay

Letter

l ‎(lower case, upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Mirandese

Article

the (definite article)

Norwegian

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /elː/, /ɛlː/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/, /ɭ/, /ɽ/

Letter

The 12th letter of the Norwegian alphabet.

Usage notes

/ɭ/ Retroflex, merge of rl.
/ɽ/ Tjukk L (thick L), a phenomemon found in the eastern part of Norway, around Oslo and north.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Letter

l ‎(lower case, upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.
1. (humorous, possibly offensive) Sometimes, the consonant r is changed to l when depicting stereotypical speech of a Chinese person.
  - 1989, "O estranho que veio da China", Ranma ½, episode 1, Brazilian dub
    Chinese man: [speaking in broken Portuguese] Vocês, senholes, muito estlanhos, não? Este lugar muito peligoso! Ninguém usa agola, tem mais de cem fontes aqui. E cada uma delas tem uma lenda telivelmente tlágica!
    Chinese man: [speaking in broken Portuguese] You, gentlemen, are very weird, no? This place is very dangerous! Nobody uses it nowadays, it has more than one hundred springs here. And each one has a terribly tragic legend.

Romanian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /el/

Letter

l ‎(lowercase, capital L)

The fifteenth letter of the Romanian alphabet representing the phoneme /l/. Preceded by k and followed by m.

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

(uppercase) L

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l ‎(Cyrillic spelling л)

The 16th letter of the Serbo-Croatian Latin alphabet (gajica), preceded by k and followed by lj.

Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l ‎(upper case L)

The twentieth letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Spanish

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /l/
(letter name) IPA^(key): /'ele/

Letter

l ‎(lower case, upper case L)

The 12th letter of the Spanish alphabet.

Turkish

Letter

l ‎(lower case, upper case L)

The fifteenth letter of the Turkish alphabet, called le and written in the Latin script.

Turkmen

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l ‎(upper case L)

The fourteenth letter of the Turkmen alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.