How do you pronounce epistolary?

The recorded pronunciation is /ɪˈpɪstəˌlɛɹi/.

epistolary

/ɪˈpɪstəˌlɛɹi/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 2.30 in modern English

Syllables: e-pis-to-la-ry
IPA: /ɪˈpɪstəˌlɛɹi/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of or relating to letters, or the writing of letters.

adj

Carried on by written correspondence.

adj

In the manner of written correspondence.

noun

A Christian liturgical book containing set readings for church services from the New Testament Epistles.

Example Sentences

"an epistolary relationship"
"epistolary style"
"an epistolary novel"
"Bram Stoker's novel Dracula (1897) is written in epistolary style."
"But Sir Jasper has a great talent for epistolary correspondence—to be sure he has nothing else to do; but my time is of great importance."

Etymology

1627, from Latin epistolārius, from epistola (“letter”) (English epistle) + -ārius, from Ancient Greek ἐπιστολή (epistolḗ) from ἐπιστέλλω (epistéllō, “to send a message”) from ἐπί (epí, “upon”) + στέλλω (stéllō, “to prepare, send”). For the noun, compare Middle English pistelarie and Old English pistelari, both from Medieval Latin epistolārium, possibly via an unattested *epistelari, *epistolarie.

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: epistolārius, ἐπιστολή

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ɪˈpɪstəˌlɛɹi/
British English: /ɪˈpɪst(ə)ˌl(ə)ɹi/

Inflected Forms

more epistolary (comparative) most epistolary (superlative) epistolaries (plural)

Derived Forms

epistolarily unepistolary

Frequently Paired Words

epistle epistology dialectic dialogue

Synonyms

epistolatory