pamphlet

[pam-flit]

noun

1. a complete publication of generally less than 80 pages stitched or stapled together and usually having a paper cover.

2. a short treatise or essay, generally a controversial tract, on some subject of contemporary interest.

   a political pamphlet.

pamphlet

/ ˈpæmflɪt /

noun

1. a brief publication generally having a paper cover; booklet

2. a brief treatise, often on a subject of current interest, published in pamphlet form

Other Word Forms

• pamphletary adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pamphlet¹

1375–1425; late Middle English pamflet < Anglo-Latin panfletus, pamfletus, syncopated variant of Pamphiletus, diminutive of Medieval Latin Pamphilus, title of a 12th-century Latin comedy. See -et

Word History and Origins

Origin of pamphlet¹

C14 pamflet, from Anglo-Latin panfletus, from Medieval Latin Pamphilus title of a popular 12th-century amatory poem from Greek Pamphilos masculine proper name

Example Sentences

A recent screening of “Evil Unbound” in Beijing was attended by employees from a company who turned up with pamphlets touting the Communist Party.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

On 8 October, a search of his house was carried out, where magazines and pamphlets suggesting an interest in animal rights were found.

Read more on BBC

Spending has been evident as glossy pamphlets opposing the effort landed in voters’ mailboxes even before lawmakers voted to put Proposition 50 on the ballot.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

They left the neurologist with nothing: no instructions, no care plan, not even the stupid pamphlet, which was about memory problems in general.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The text and graphics for her “Be Best” booklet, released in 2018 as part of her campaign to prevent childhood bullying, were strikingly similar to a pamphlet published by the Obama administration.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• brochure 
• bulletin 
• flyer 
• folder 
• handout 
• leaflet 
• tract