L is the twelfth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelled el or occasionally ell. History The letter L is derived from the Phoenician crook or goad which stood for . This originally may have been based on an Egyptian hieroglyph that was adapted by Semites for alphabetic purposes. The Greek letter Lambda Λ (upper case) or λ (lower case), as well as the equivalent Etruscan and Latin letters, represent the same sound as the Semitic letter. Egyptian hie… (More on L)