Epistolary

//ɪˈpɪst(ə)ˌl(ə)ɹi// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A Christian liturgical book containing set readings for church services from the New Testament Epistles.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or relating to letters, or the writing of letters.
  2. 2
    Carried on by written correspondence.

    "an epistolary relationship"

  3. 3
    In the manner of written correspondence.

    "epistolary style"

Adjective
  1. 1
    written in the form of or carried on by letters or correspondence wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
epistolatoryepistolatoryepistolic

Example

More examples

"Bram Stoker's novel Dracula (1897) is written in epistolary style."

Etymology

1620s, from Latin epistolārius, from epistola (“letter”) (English epistle) + -ārius, from Ancient Greek ἐπιστολή (epistolḗ) from ἐπιστέλλω (epistéllō, “I send a message”) from ἐπί (epí, “upon”) + στέλλω (stéllō, “I prepare, send”). For the noun, compare Middle English pistelarie and Old English pistelari, both from Medieval Latin epistolārium, possibly via an unattested *epistelari, *epistolarie.

Related phrases

new testament

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.