Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Of or associated with letters or the writing of letters.
- adj. Being in the form of letter: epistolary exchanges.
- adj. Carried on by or composed of letters: an epistolary friendship.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Pertaining to epistles or letters; suitable to letters and correspondence; familiar: as, an epistolary style.
- Contained in letters; carried on by letters.
- n. A book formerly in use in the Western Church, containing the liturgical epistles. In the Greek Church the epistles are contained in a book called the apostle (apostolos or apostolus, a name also used in the West), or, as comprising the lections from both the Acts and the epistles, the praxapostolos. The epistolary was sometimes known as the lectionary. Also in the forms epistolare, epistolarium. See
comes .
Wiktionary
- adj. of or relating to letters, or the writing of letters
- adj. carried on by written correspondence
- adj. in the manner of written correspondence
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Pertaining to epistles or letters; suitable to letters and correspondence.
- adj. Contained in letters; carried on by letters.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. written in the form of or carried on by letters or correspondence
Etymologies
- 1650s, from French épistolaire, from Latin epistolaris, from Latin epistola ("letter") (English epistle), from Ancient Greek ἐπιστολή (epistolē) from ἐπιστέλλω (epistellō, "I send a message") from ἐπί (epi, "upon") + στέλλω (stellō, "I prepare, send"). (Wiktionary)
- From Latin epistolāris, from epistola, epistle; see epistle. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Letters for the Memorable Year (1987) [34] details in epistolary form many actual experiences of the author (here called K).”
“In addition, “YR, YR, YR” is humorous, is written in epistolary form (as a cover letter to editor Gardner Dozois), and is set in my home town of Fairbanks, Alaska.”
“The end result, a tiny novella in epistolary form and shining a spotlight on life in”
“Then I go carefully over the columns of the weekly, clip out all the available personals and news items, about weddings, and engagements, and teas, etc., hash them up in epistolary style, forge the Windsor correspondent's nom de plume – and there's your society letter!”
“Where we would say "testifies," the ancients in epistolary communications use the past tense.”
“‘We write to one another,’ said Rosa, pouting, as she recalled their epistolary differences.”
“We write to one another," said Rosa, pouting, as she recalled their epistolary differences.”
“Of all branches of prose composition, the epistolary was the most carefully cultivated.”
Handbook of Universal Literature From the Best and Latest Authorities
“We write to one another,' said Rosa, pouting, as she recalled their epistolary differences.”
“And it is a poem addressed to someone who is there to read it (while the book's readers read over his shoulder) so it is of course more relaxed, and, at the same time, takes up, or I hope it does, the challenge of writing an "epistolary" poem of interest to others than the recipient of the letter.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘epistolary’.
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phrontistery - e
from phrontistery.info
eagre, earing, earwig, easement, eau-de-nil, ebberman, ebeneous, ?boulement, ebriection, ?brillade, ebrious, ebullioscope and 616 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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There's a word for it
catkin, pastiche, badonkadonk, biome, omphaloscopy, pogonophobia, reptation, anathema, xyst, commodify, commoditize, monetize and 69 more...
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Metawords
Talking about talking, writing about writing, etc.
epizeuxis, tautological, aptote, bibliophagist, parataxis, scriptorium, aposiopesis, variorum, chantefable, boustrophedon, psellism, adoxography and 51 more...
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Reading Materials
Names of printed materials meant to be read - for worship, pleasure, information, recitation; out of curiosity, or, in the case of adverts, to get our attention and sway our spending choices.
lectionary, epistolary, reading-book, novel, Bildungsroman, short story, billboard, advertisement, Sunday comics, obituaries, book of hours, primer and 84 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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Keeping Secrets
Words of 10 letters, all different, can be used for encrypting, pretty securely, such things as PINs and passwords. The fly in the ointment, for me, in keeping track of them is I've got to write '...
lumberjack, birthplace, whiskeybar, vanquished, metaphysic, precaution, quizmaster, dumbwaiter, thumbscrew, blacksmith, wholegrain, wanderlust and 105 more...
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everythingecstatic's Words
cadence, frenetic, eloquence, paradigm, nocturne, elusive, effervescence, soliloquy, plethora, elision, aqueous, transcend and 166 more...
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bintalshamsa's list
My Favorite Words
weltschmerz, perspicacity, idée fixe, invigilator, salubrious, tchotchke, ex nihilo, invidious, malapropism, naïve, sardonic, elide and 1459 more...
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Hitch Words
Words from the lexicon of Christopher Hitchens
propinquity, fratricide, factitious, vitiate, sectarianism, ostensible, atavistic, sephardic, doyen, palpable, encephalitic, fastidious and 188 more...
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artoparts's Words
illation, finite, edify, abide, abrade, vouch, amiss, vociferate, perusing, techantiquery, rigamarole, holon and 615 more...
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Big Book #2 List
absolution, restitution, contrition, moratorium, nautical, nirvana, pandemonium, perennial, symposium, dialectic, dipsomaniacal, ecumenical and 117 more...
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the omnibus
preponderance, idioglossia, acumen, heteronym, flux, anacoluthon, metonymy, impetus, constellation, exegesis, revelatory, cloistered and 877 more...
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lanklenmot's Words
ineluctable, prelapsarian, bien pensant, prospero, preternatural, gratifying, iconoclast, cineast, persnickety, tumescent, galvanize, pap and 889 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, E
excoriate, exoskeleton, enclave, endemic, erstwhile, entwine, elliptical, élan, earflaps, earlobe, earthen, earthenware and 238 more...
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suzyg's Words
brandish, recompence, shopping, dichotomy, paradigm, reverse osmosis, anyway, despite, drunk, degenerate, insipid, grateful and 438 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for epistolary.
munjal.upadhyay relating to letters, Mar 24, 2013
jwjarvis but he has kept his hand in as an epistolary politician. Aug 23, 2011
seanahan So that's what epistle means. Nov 2, 2007