A.Word.A.Day --epistolary

A.Word.A.Day

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Mar 17, 2009

This week's theme
Words with no repeating letters

This week's words
quodlibet
epistolary
schwerpunkt
gramineous
overslaugh

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

epistolary

PRONUNCIATION:

(i-PIS-tuh-ler-ee)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Of or relating to letters.
2. Composed of letters (as a literary work).

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin epistola (letter), from Greek epistole (something sent), from epi- (upon, over, on) + stellein (to send). Ultimately from the Indo-European root stel- (to put or stand) that is also the source of stallion, stilt, install, gestalt, stout, and pedestal.

USAGE:

"Case in point: Griffin & Sabine, Nick Bantock's epistolary novels told entirely through extravagantly illustrated postcards and letters tucked into envelopes contained in the book."
Jennie Yabroff; Love on the Blocks; Newsweek (New York); Mar 2, 2009.

See more usage examples of epistolary in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

"Faith" is a fine invention / For gentlemen who see -- / But microscopes are prudent / In an emergency. -Emily Dickinson, poet (1830-1886)

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