Added 10 October 2026
pamphlet
/ˈpæmflɪt/ noun
In Latin: libellus Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about pamphlet at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- 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.
- Such a work containing political material or discussing matters of controversy.
- A brief handwritten work.
verb
- To distribute pamphlets (to someone or some place). To write about (someone or something) in a pamphlet; to issue (some material) in the form of a pamphlet.
- To distribute pamphlets (to someone or some place).
- To write about (someone or something) in a pamphlet; to issue (some material) in the form of a pamphlet.
Origin
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.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)