Dictionary

nonletter en · NOUN

Etymology

From non- + letter.

Meanings

1. That which is not a letter (alphabetic symbol).
   • Manhattanville College in Purchase, N. Y., has joined a small but growing [movement] back to the practice of awarding letter grades after a year's experiment with a nonletter system that was seen as a way of reducing the competitiveness and authoritarian quality of [letter] grading. 1973 June 2, Iver Peterson, “Campus Notes Grant Made for Study‐Incentive Plan”, in The New York Times:
   • The grading policy now specifies that all students enrolled before the spring 1982 semester in classes of less than 40 students will receive written evaluations, with either a nonletter grade (honors, pass or no credit) or a letter grade on their transcripts. Under the old system, the no-credit notation did not appear on the transcript. 1982 April 11, Timothy McDarrah, “THE LETTER-GRADE CONTROVERSY”, in The New York Times:
   • While economists generally say that a W remains entirely possible, they aren’t willing to make it their most-likely forecast because it hinges on two total unknowns: whether there is another spike in infections, and whether states will shut down again if that happens. Analysts who venture a guess increasingly favor a nonletter shape as their base-case: the checkmark. 2020 May 29, Jeanna Smialek, “Forget Swooshes and V’s. The Economy’s Future Is a Question Mark.”, in The New York Times:
2. That which is not a letter (written message to be delivered).

Forms