Word.ws English Dictionary

epistolary

Syllables: e·pis·to·la·ry/ɪˈpɪst(ə)ˌl(ə)ɹi/US/ɪˈpɪstəˌlɛɹi/

epistolary adjective: of or relating to letters, or the writing of letters.

Adjective

epistolary (comparative more epistolary, superlative most epistolary)

  1. Of or relating to letters, or the writing of letters.
  2. Carried on by written correspondence.
    • an epistolary relationship
  3. In the manner of written correspondence.
    • epistolary style
    • an epistolary novel

Noun

epistolary (plural epistolaries)

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

Examples of epistolary in a sentence

  • 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.1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “A Request Refused”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn...

Forms of epistolary

Adjective
comparativemore epistolary
superlativemost epistolary
Noun
pluralepistolaries

Origin of epistolary

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.

Words formed from epistolary

Questions about epistolary

What does epistolary mean?
Epistolary means of or relating to letters, or the writing of letters.
How do you use epistolary in a sentence?
Bram Stoker's novel Dracula (1897) is written in epistolary style.
What part of speech is epistolary?
Epistolary can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce epistolary?
Epistolary is pronounced /ɪˈpɪst(ə)ˌl(ə)ɹi/ (UK).

Words near epistolary in the dictionary

  1. epistolar
  2. epistolarian
  3. epistolarians
  4. epistolaries
  5. epistolarily
  6. epistolary
  7. epistolatory
  8. epistolean
  9. epistoleans
  10. epistoler
  11. epistolers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: epistolary (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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