noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
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"His gayeſt flooriſhes are but Gaſcoignes Weedes, or Tarletons trickes, or Greenes crankes, or Marlowes bravadoes; his jeſts, but the dregges of common ſcurrilitie, or the ſhreds of the Theater, or the of-ſcouring of new pamflets: […]"
"So far is it from the kenne of theſe wretched projectors of ours that beſcraull their Pamflets every day with new formes of government for our Church."
"Christ now to Thee I crye of mercy and of grace and graunt of Thy goodnes to every maner reder ful understandyng in this leude pamflet to have, and let no man wene other cause in this werke that is verily the soth."
"Is not This a Seaſonable and Wholeſome Doctrine, d'ye think, to publiſh to the Multitude at this time of day, when they are Preacht and Pamphletted into Tinder already; And the Leaſt ſpark hazzards the Putting of 'em All in a flame?"
"How many Honourable, and Loyall Gentlemen; Nay the Flower of the Nobility, have been Pamphleted up and down the Nation like ſo many Shrewing-Cocks, for every Cur to lift up his Leg and Piſs againſt; as the Betrayers of the Liberties of the Nation, when, Effectually, they were next under God himſelf, the Preſervers of 'em: […]"
"Five Swarthmore students, including Wittman, were arrested and fined thirty-four dollars each for pamphleting in February."
"[…] Had you not beene ſo forvvard in the republiſhing of it, you ſhold haue had certayne Epiſtles to Orators and Poets, to inſert to the later end; As, namely, […] to the Ghoſt of Robert Greene, telling him, vvhat a coyle [tumult] there is vvith pamphleting on him after his death."
"Skim through this pamphlet before you take the examination for our company."
A small, brief printed work, consisting either of a folded sheet of paper, or several sheets bound together into a booklet with only a paper cover, formerly containing literary compositions, newsletters, and newspapers, but now chiefly informational matter.
Common synonyms include: booklet, brochure, leaflet, tract, ad, advert.
Skim through this pamphlet before you take the examination for our company.
Pronounced /ˈpæmflɪt/.
The noun is derived from Late Middle English pamflet, pamphilet (“short written text; small book; tract”) [and other forms], from Middle French Pamphilet (compare Late Latin (Anglo-Latin) pamfletus, panfletus, paunflettus (“short written text”), Old French Panfilès), a popular shorthand for the 12th-century Latin love poem Pamphilus, seu de amore (Pamphilus, or On Love): the widely circulated pamphlets then gave this name to the whole phenomenon. Pamphilet is derived from Latin Pamphilus, the name of a protagonist of the poem + Middle French -et (suffix forming diminutive masculine nouns); while Pamphilus is from Ancient Greek Πάμφιλος (Pámphilos, literally “beloved by all”), from παν- (pan-, prefix meaning ‘all; every’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to protect; to shepherd”)) + φῐ́λος (phĭ́los, “beloved, dear”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰil- (“decent; friendly; good; harmonious”)). For the Middle French and Old French use of the suffix -et to form shorthands for the titles of works, compare Middle French Avionet (“the fables of Avianus”) from Avianus; Middle French Catonet, Old French Chatonnet, Chatonez (“the Distichs of Cato”) from Caton (they were formerly believed to be by Cato); and Old French Esopet, Isopet (“Aesop’s Fables”) from Ésope (Aesop). The verb is derived from the noun.