A letterman, in U.S. sports, performing arts or academics,'s a high school or college student who's met a specified level of participation and/or performance on a varsity athletic team, marching band, or in other performance school-sponsored activities. Overview The term comes from the practice of awarding each such participant a cloth "letter", which's usually the school's initial or initials, for placement on a "letter sweater" or "letter jacket" intended for the display of such an award. I… (More on Letterman)