Envelope vs. Letter — What's the Difference?

Protective covering for sending documents through the mail.

Can contain various types of information or emotions.

Comes in various sizes and materials.

A written message addressed to a person or organization.

A flat, usually rectangular or square, container for a letter.

Can be personal or formal in nature.

Aids in the sorting and delivery of mail.

Often consists of a greeting, body, closing, and signature.

Used to ensure the confidentiality of the letter’s contents.

Used for communication across distances.

An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin, flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card.

A character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet

A flat paper container with a sealable flap, used to enclose a letter or document.

A written, typed, or printed communication, sent in an envelope by post or messenger

A covering or containing structure or layer

The precise terms of a statement or requirement; the strict verbal interpretation

A flat paper container, especially for a letter, usually having a gummed flap.

Literature

Something that envelops; a wrapping.

A style of typeface.

(Biology) An enclosing structure or cover, such as a membrane or the outer coat of a virus.

Inscribe letters or writing on

The bag containing the gas in a balloon or airship.

Be given a school or college initial as a mark of proficiency in sport

The set of limitations within which a technological system, especially an aircraft, can perform safely and effectively.

A written symbol or character representing a speech sound and being a component of an alphabet.

A usually spherical region of interstellar matter surrounding a forming star and interacting with the star's gravitational and radiation fields.

A written symbol or character used in the graphemic representation of a word, such as the h in Thames. See Note at Thames.

The coma of a comet.

A written or printed communication directed to a person or organization.

(Mathematics) A curve or surface that is tangent to every one of a family of curves or surfaces.

Often letters A certified document granting rights to its bearer.

A paper or cardboard wrapper used to enclose small, flat items, especially letters, for mailing.

Literal meaning

Something that envelops; a wrapping.

Literary culture; belles-lettres.

A bag containing the lifting gas of a balloon or airship; fabric that encloses the gas-bags of an airship.

Learning or knowledge, especially of literature.

(geometry) A mathematical curve, surface, or higher-dimensional object that is the tangent to a given family of lines, curves, surfaces, or higher-dimensional objects. Category:en:Curves

Literature or writing as a profession.

(electronics) A curve that bounds another curve or set of curves, as the modulation envelope of an amplitude-modulated carrier wave in electronics.

A piece of type that prints a single character.

(music) The shape of a sound, which may be controlled by a synthesizer or sampler.

A specific style of type.

(computing) The information used for routing a message that is transmitted with the message but not part of its contents.

The characters in one style of type.

(biology) An enclosing structure or cover, such as a membrane; a space between two membranes

An emblem in the shape of the initial of a school awarded for outstanding performance, especially in varsity athletics.

(engineering) The set of limitations within which a technological system can perform safely and effectively.

To write letters on

(astronomy) The nebulous covering of the head or nucleus of a comet; a coma.

To write in letters

An earthwork in the form of a single parapet or a small rampart, sometimes raised in the ditch and sometimes beyond it.

To write or form letters.

Archaic form of envelop

To earn a school letter, as for outstanding athletic achievement

That which envelops, wraps up, encases, or surrounds; a wrapper; an inclosing cover; esp., the cover or wrapper of a document, as of a letter.

A symbol in an alphabet.

The nebulous covering of the head or nucleus of a comet; - called also coma.

A written or printed communication, generally longer and more formal than a note.

A work of earth, in the form of a single parapet or of a small rampart. It is sometimes raised in the ditch and sometimes beyond it.

The literal meaning of something, as distinguished from its intended and remoter meaning (the spirit).

A curve or surface which is tangent to each member of a system of curves or surfaces, the form and position of the members of the system being allowed to vary according to some continuous law. Thus, any curve is the envelope of its tangents.

Literature.

A set of limits for the performance capabilities of some type of machine, originally used to refer to aircraft; - it is often described graphically as a two-dimensional graph of a function showing the maximum of one performance variable as a function of another. Now it is also used metaphorically to refer to capabilities of any system in general, including human organizations, esp. in the phrase push the envelope. It is used to refer to the maximum performance available at the current state of the technology, and therefore refers to a class of machines in general, not a specific machine.

(law) A division unit of a piece of law marked by a letter of the alphabet.

A flat rectangular paper container for papers

A size of paper, 8½ in × 11 in (215.9 mm × 279.4 mm, US paper sizes rounded to the nearest 5 mm).

Any wrapper or covering

A size of paper, 215 mm × 280 mm.

A curve that is tangent to each of a family of curves

Clipping of varsity letter

A natural covering (as by a fluid);

A single type; type, collectively; a style of type.

The maximum operating capability of a system;

(archaic) One who retards or hinders.

The bag containing the gas in a balloon

(transitive) To print, inscribe, or paint letters on something.

To earn a varsity letter (award).

One who lets or permits; one who lets anything for hire.

One who retards or hinders.

A mark or character used as the representative of a sound, or of an articulation of the human organs of speech; a first element of written language.

A written or printed communication; a message expressed in intelligible characters on something adapted to conveyance, as paper, parchment, etc.; an epistle.

A writing; an inscription.

Verbal expression; literal statement or meaning; exact signification or requirement.

A single type; type, collectively; a style of type.

Learning; erudition; as, a man of letters.

A letter; an epistle.

A telegram longer than an ordinary message sent at rates lower than the standard message rate in consideration of its being sent and delivered subject to priority in service of regular messages. Such telegrams are called by the Western Union Company day letters, or night letters according to the time of sending, and by The Postal Telegraph Company day lettergrams, or night lettergrams.

To impress with letters; to mark with letters or words; as, a book gilt and lettered.

A written message addressed to a person or organization;

The conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech;

A strictly literal interpretation (as distinct from the intention);

An award earned by participation in a school sport;

Owner who lets another person use something (housing usually) for hire

Win an athletic letter

Set down or print with letters

Mark letters on or mark with letters

No, envelopes can also be used to send documents, cards, and small items, depending on their size and design.

Yes, most paper envelopes can be recycled, but envelopes with plastic windows or made of certain materials may need to be separated or cannot be recycled.

The main purpose of an envelope is to protect and conceal a letter or document during delivery, ensuring it reaches the recipient securely.

Technically, yes, but using an envelope is standard practice for privacy and to protect the letter during transit.

To properly address an envelope, write the recipient's name and address on the front center and the sender's address in the top left corner or on the back flap.

Digital communication has reduced the frequency of sending letters and envelopes for everyday communication, but they remain popular for official, formal, or personal messages that require a more personal touch.

Yes, there are various types of letters, including personal letters, business letters, official letters, and others, each serving different purposes.

Letters are considered more personal due to the effort in writing and sending them through physical mail, offering a tangible sense of connection and thoughtfulness.

A letter becomes personal through its content, which may include personal news, emotions, and a direct message from the sender to the recipient.

An envelope typically displays the recipient's and sender's addresses and may also include postage and sometimes instructions for the postal service.