pamphlet
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpæmflɪt/
ipa: /-flət/
ipa: /ˈpænflɪt/
ipa: /ˈpænflət/
Forms: form: pamphlets
Etymology: 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.
Senses: examples: text: 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: […]
ref: 1593, Gabriell Haruey [i.e., Gabriel Harvey], Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. A Preparative to Certaine Larger Discourses, Intituled Nashes S. Fame, London: […] Iohn Wolfe, →OCLC; republished as John Payne Collier, editor, Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. […] (Miscellaneous Tracts. Temp. Eliz. & Jac. I; no. 8), [London]: [s.n.], [1870], →OCLC, page 66:
text: I happened, I know not how, to ſay that a pamphlet meant a proſe piece. [Samuel] Johnson. "No, Sir. A few ſheets of poetry unbound are a pamphlet, as much as a few ſheets of proſe." [Samuel] Musgrave. "A pamphlet may be underſtood to mean a poetical piece, in Weſtminſter-Hall, that is in formal language; but in common language it is underſtood to mean proſe." Johnson. (and here was one of the many inſtances of his knowing clearly and telling exactly how a thing is) "A pamphlet is underſtood in common language to mean proſe, only from this, that there is ſo much more proſe written than poetry; as when we ſay a book, proſe is underſtood for the ſame reaſon, though a book may as well be in poetry as in proſe. We underſtand what is moſt general, and we name what is leſs frequent."
ref: 1791, James Boswell, “[1778]”, in James Boswell, editor, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. […], volume II, London: […] Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, […], →OCLC, page 243:
text: The brewing of beer from malt instead of sugar is strongly recommended, and a scale of rewards in grants of land, had been proposed; which however had not been adopted by the Colonial Council, and seems to be objected to by the Governor: but this interesting pamphlet requires to be read to appreciate its value.
ref: 1832 June, “Agricultural and Horticultural Society”, in The Calcutta Magazine and Monthly Register, number XXX, Calcutta, West Bengal: Samuel Smith and Co. […], →OCLC, page 192, column 1:
text: "Haven't you any kind of a history of the place? I think there was one written about 1840: a book or pamphlet about its first settlement," he presently said from the farther end of the room.
ref: 1917, Edith Wharton, chapter I, in Summer […], New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 18:
text: The librarian should consider the value of the publication compared to its cost. How far will one resource stretch compared with another of the same price? For example, a pamphlet or booklet series is accessible to more people at one time than a bound volume.
ref: 1980 fall, Gail M. Martin, “A Guide to Setting Up a Career Resource Information Center”, in Melvin C. Fountain, editor, Occupational Outlook Quarterly, volume 24, number 3, Washington, D.C.: Occupational Outlook Service, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 15, column 1:
glosses: 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.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1642 (indicated as 1641), John Milton, “That Church-governement is Prescrib’d in the Gospell, and that to Say Otherwise is Unsound”, in The Reason of Church-governement Urg’d against Prelaty […], London: […] E[dward] G[riffin] for Iohn Rothwell, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 4:
text: […] Miniſters are ſo wiſe to leave their Proceedings to be accounted for by Reaſoners at a Diſtance, who often mould them into Syſtems, that do not only go down very well in the Coffee-Houſe, but are Supplies for Pamphlets in the preſent Age, and may probably furniſh Materials for Memoirs and Hiſtories in the next.
ref: 1714 (date written), [Jonathan Swift], Some Free Thoughts upon the Present State of Affairs. […], Dublin; London: […] T. Cooper, […], published 1741, →OCLC, page 3:
glosses: Such a work containing political material or discussing matters of controversy.
examples: text: 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.
ref: [c. 1385, Thomas Usk, chapter IX, in R. Allen Shoaf, editor, The Testament of Love (Middle English Texts) (in Middle English), Kalamazoo, Mich.: […] [F]or TEAMS (The Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages) in association with the University of Rochester by Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, published 1998, →ISBN, book III, page 302, lines 1088–1091:
english: Christ, now to Thee I cry of mercy and of grace, and grant of Thy goodness to every manner [of?] reader full understanding in this lewed [unlearned] pamphlet to have, and let no man suppose other cause in this work that is verily the sooth [truth].
translation: Christ, now to Thee I cry of mercy and of grace, and grant of Thy goodness to every manner [of?] reader full understanding in this lewed [unlearned] pamphlet to have, and let no man suppose other cause in this work that is verily the sooth [truth].
bold_translation_offsets: 149
157
text: And heere I cast vnto my purpoos / Out of Frenssh a tale to translate, / Which in a paunflet I radde & sauh but late.
ref: [a. 1410?, John Lydgate, “The Churl and the Bird”, in Henry Noble MacCracken, editor, The Minor Poems of John Lydgate […] (Original Series; 192), part II (Secular Poems) (in Middle English), London: […] [F]or the Early English Text Society, by Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press […], published 1934, →OCLC, stanza 5, lines 33–35, page 469:
english: And here I cast unto my purpose / Out of French a tale to translate, / Which in a pamphlet I read and saw but late.
translation: And here I cast unto my purpose / Out of French a tale to translate, / Which in a pamphlet I read and saw but late.
bold_translation_offsets: 82
90
glosses: A brief handwritten work.
Coordinate terms: brochure
flyer
handbill
leaflet
Derived terms: word: pamphletary
word: pamphleteer
word: pamphleteering
word: pamphleter
word: pamphletful
word: pamphletic
word: pamphleting
word: pamphletism
word: pamphletize
word: pamphletry
word: pamphlette
word: pamphletwise