L

See also: Variations of "l", l [U+006C LATIN SMALL LETTER L], ㄴ [U+3134 HANGUL LETTER NIEUN], and ℓ [U+2113 SCRIPT SMALL L]

L - Translingual

Letter

L (lower case l)

The twelfth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

Numeral

Roman numeral fifty (50)
the fiftieth (50th)

Symbol

(measurement, SI) liter, litre.
(biochemistry, IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation) leucine
(set theory) Constructible universe
(computer science) Deterministic logarithmic space
(physics) inductance
(astronomy, physics, measurement, cgs) lambert
(linguistics) low tone
(linguistics) A wildcard for a lateral or liquid consonant
(Voice Quality Symbols) position of the larynx (modified for raised, lowered)
(usually clothing) large (the manufactured size)

Synonyms

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

Gallery

Letter styles
Uppercase and lowercase versions of L, in normal and italic type
Uppercase and lowercase L in Fraktur

L - English

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA: /l/
(main allophones) IPA: [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.

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”)
(US, politics) Abbreviation of Libertarian.
Initialism of left.
Initialism of Latin.
(usually clothing, singular only) Initialism of large (the manufactured size or an item of that size).
Initialism of lira.
Initialism of loss.
Initialism of lobby.
Abbreviation of low pressure front.

Derived terms

(sports): OTL
(loss): take the L

Adjective

L (not comparable)

(usually clothing) Initialism of large (of the manufactured size).
Initialism of left.
(linguistics) Initialism of low (variety of a language with limited prestige and official acceptance).
- an L variety
(slang) (from loser) Subpar, of inferior quality.
- Antonym: W

L - Afar

Letter

The sixteenth letter in the Afar alphabet.

L - Afrikaans

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA: /ɛl/

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

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

Noun

L (plural L's, diminutive L'etjie)

L - Azerbaijani

Letter

L upper case (lower case l)

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

L - Basque

Pronunciation

IPA: /ele/, [e̞.le̞]

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

The twelfth letter of the Basque alphabet, called ele and written in the Latin script.

L - Central Franconian

Pronunciation

IPA: /l/

Letter

A letter in the German-based alphabet of Central Franconian.
A letter in the Dutch-based alphabet of Central Franconian.

Usage notes

In the German-based spelling, l is doubled after short vowels except in certain function words and when the letter is followed by another consonant within the word stem.
In the Dutch-based spelling, l is doubled after short vowels if the syllable were otherwise open.

L - Chinese

Pronunciation

Cantonese (Jyutping): eu1, e¹ lou⁴, eu1 lou⁴

Noun

(Hong Kong Cantonese, euphemistic) Alternative form of 撚 (lan2)

Pronunciation

Cantonese (Jyutping): lit1

Classifier

(Cantonese) litre

Alternative forms

Pronunciation 1

Mandarin
- (Pinyin): áilou, ếle
- (Zhuyin): ㄞˊ ˙ㄌㄡ, ㄝˊ ˙ㄌㄜ
Cantonese (Jyutping): eu1, e¹ lou⁴
Min Nan (Teochew, Peng'im): ê⁵ le⁷
Wu (Wiktionary): ¹er

Letter

The twelfth letter of the Latin alphabet.

Pronunciation 2

Mandarin
- (Pinyin): lē, (le¹, ⁵／⁰)
- (Zhuyin): ㄌㄜ,

Letter

The twelfth letter used in Pinyin.

Usage notes

《汉语拼音方案》 defines a standard pronunciation for each letter. However, these pronunciations are rarely used in education; another pronunciation is commonly used instead.
The pronunciation above are only used while referring to letters in Pinyin. They are not used in other context (such as English).
The official pronunciation defined in 《汉语拼音方案》, ㄝㄌ (ê̄l), is not a valid syllable in Pinyin.

L - Dutch

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA: /ɛl/

Letter

L (capital, lowercase l)

The twelfth letter of the Dutch alphabet.

L - Esperanto

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA: /lo/
(phoneme): IPA: /l/

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

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

L - Estonian

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

The twelfth letter of the Estonian alphabet, called ell and written in the Latin script.

L - 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.

Noun

Abbreviation of laudatur.

L - Galician

Noun

L m

Abbreviation of leste (“east”).

Synonyms

(east): E

L - German

Pronunciation

IPA: /ʔɛl/

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

The twelfth letter of the German alphabet.

Noun

L m

Abbreviation of Liter.

L - Hungarian

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA: [ˈl]
(letter name): IPA: [ˈɛlː]

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

The nineteenth letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called ell and written in the Latin script.

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	L	L-ek
accusative	L-et	L-eket
dative	L-nek	L-eknek
instrumental	L-lel	L-ekkel
causal-final	L-ért	L-ekért
translative	L-lé	L-ekké
terminative	L-ig	L-ekig
essive-formal	L-ként	L-ekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	L-ben	L-ekben
superessive	L-en	L-eken
adessive	L-nél	L-eknél
illative	L-be	L-ekbe
sublative	L-re	L-ekre
allative	L-hez	L-ekhez
elative	L-ből	L-ekből
delative	L-ről	L-ekről
ablative	L-től	L-ektől
non-attributive possessive - singular	L-é	L-eké
non-attributive possessive - plural	L-éi	L-ekéi

Possessive forms of L
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	L-em	L-jeim
2nd person sing.	L-ed	L-jeid
3rd person sing.	L-je	L-jei
1st person plural	L-ünk	L-jeink
2nd person plural	L-etek	L-jeitek
3rd person plural	L-jük	L-jeik

L - Ido

Pronunciation

IPA: /l/

Letter

L (lower case l)

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

L - Indonesian

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA: /ɛl/
(phoneme): IPA: /l/

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

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

L - Italian

Pronunciation

(phonemic realization) IPA: /l/

Letter

L f or m (invariable, upper case, lower case l)

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

L - Latvian

Pronunciation

IPA: [l]

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

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

L - Malay

Pronunciation

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

Letter

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

L - Nupe

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA: /l/

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

The fifteenth letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.

L - Polish

Pronunciation

IPA: /ɛl/

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

The fifteenth letter of the Polish alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.

L - Portuguese

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

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

L - Romani

Pronunciation

IPA: /l/

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

(International Standard) The sixteenth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.
(Pan-Vlax) The seventeenth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

L - Romanian

Pronunciation

IPA: /l/

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

The fifteenth letter of the Romanian alphabet, called el, le, or lî and written in the Latin script.

L - Saanich

Pronunciation

IPA: /l/, /lʼ/

Letter

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

L - Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA: /l/

Letter

L (lower case l)

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

L - Slovene

Letter

L (capital, lowercase l)

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

L - Somali

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA: /l/
(letter name): IPA: /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.

L - Spanish

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

the 12th letter of the Spanish alphabet

L - Tagalog

Pronunciation

Hyphenation: L
(letter name, Filipino alphabet): IPA: /ʔel/, [ʔɛl]
(letter name, Abakada alphabet): IPA: /la/, [lɐ]
(letter name, Abecedario): IPA: /ˈʔele/, [ˈʔɛ.lɛ]
(phoneme): IPA: /l/, [l]

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l, Baybayin spelling ᜁᜎ᜔)

The twelfth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (Filipino alphabet), called el and written in the Latin script.

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l, Baybayin spelling ᜎ)

The ninth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (Abakada alphabet), called la and written in the Latin script.

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l, Baybayin spelling ᜁᜎᜒ)

(historical) The thirteenth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (Abecedario), called ele and written in the Latin script.

L - Turkish

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

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

L - Vietnamese

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA: [ʔɛ˧˧ ləː˨˩], [ləː˨˩ kaːw˧˧], [ləː˨˩]
(Huế) IPA: [ʔɛ˧˧ ləː˦˩], [ləː˦˩ kaːw˧˧], [ləː˦˩]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA: [ʔɛ˧˧ ləː˨˩], [ləː˨˩ kaːw˧˧], [ləː˨˩]
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 - Welsh

Pronunciation

(standard) IPA: /ɛl/
- (informal) IPA: /l/

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

The fourteenth letter of the Welsh alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script. It is preceded by J and followed by Ll.

Mutation

L cannot be mutated in Welsh.

L - Yoruba

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA: /l/
(letter name): IPA: /lí/

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

The thirteenth letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called lí and written in the Latin script.

L - Zulu

Letter

L (upper case, lower case l)

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