Letts

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An old name for the people of Latvia, the Baltic nation ; a British company known for its diaries and organizers
2. Archaic plural for the Latvian people ; a British publisher whose diaries and planners are widely sold
3. The people of Latvia, in an outdated usage ; a British firm producing well-known diaries and scheduling planners

Etymology: "Letts" is the plural of "Lett," a name for a member of the Latvian people, and the term reached English from German "Lette." German took the word from the Latvian people's own name for themselves in the German-speaking world, so the English form is a second-hand borrowing rather than a direct one from Latvian. Because "Lett" is a noun for a people, its plural simply names several members of that group, as in "the Letts of the Baltic coast." The spelling follows the German form closely, which is why the English word looks more German than Latvian to a modern eye.