non-epistolary
|non-ep-is-to-la-ry|
🇺🇸
/nɑn.ɪˈpɪstəlɛri/
🇬🇧
/nɒn.ɪˈpɪstələri/
not in the form of letters
Etymology
'non-epistolary' originates from English, specifically formed by the prefix 'non-' + the adjective 'epistolary', where 'non-' meant 'not' and 'epistolary' derives from Latin 'epistola' meaning 'letter'.
'epistolary' changed from Latin 'epistola' through Old French (eg. 'epistolaire') into Middle English 'epistolary', and in modern English the productive prefix 'non-' was attached to create 'non-epistolary' to mean 'not in letter form'.
Initially 'epistola' meant 'letter' (a written message); over time 'epistolary' came to mean 'relating to letters' and 'non-epistolary' developed to mean 'not relating to or presented as letters'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
not epistolary; not written as or relating to letters (i.e., not presented in the form of correspondence).
The novel is non-epistolary, using a third-person narrative rather than a series of letters.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/11/30 12:22