- letter
- letter, epistle, missive, note, message, dispatch, report, memorandum are comparable when they mean a communication sent or transmitted as distinct from one conveyed directly from source to recipient (as by oral utterance).Letter is the ordinary term for a written, typed, or printed communication sent by one person or group to another most often by mail; the term carries no implications about the nature of the communication and no hint as to whether it deals with personal or business matters or with affairs of public concern{
she received a letter from her husband yesterday
}{all letters sent out from the belligerent countries are censored
}{he addressed an open letter (i.e., one given out for publication) to his constituents
}Epistle applies especially to a letter intended to be made public (as one of the scriptural letters of advice and counsel attributed to the Apostles){the First Epistle to Timothy
}{the Second Epistle to the Corinthians
}or to a composition in prose or poetry taking the form of an open letter{Pope's "Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot"
}As applied to a private letter, epistle is an overformal word typically used with some degree of humorous or ironic implication{forced to defend his praise of James Jones's Eternity against a barrage of indignant epistles— Geismar
}{the amiable epistle of a son-in-law anxious to be a little more than correct— Bennett
}Missive, too, is a somewhat formal term and as applied to a personal letter may be somewhat ironic or whimsical in implication{many of their missives were illiterate, and the more violent of them were unsigned— Merriman
}Note in general use applies to a letter that is brief and pointed, whether it is formal or informal{send a note of condolence
}{write a note of acceptance
}In diplomatic usage note is applied to a formal communication sent by one government to another{the Porte . . . acknowledged the validity of the Latin claims in a formal note— Kinglake
}Message differs from the preceding terms in being applicable not only to a written, typed, or printed communication but to one that is orally transmitted (as over the telephone or by a messenger or servant) or is telegraphed, cabled, or radioed{sent a message to his mother that he had been called out of town
}{but his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us— Lk 19:14
}In official and especially governmental use message applies to a formal communication from the head of a state (as one sent by the president of the United States to Congress or by a governor to the law-making body of his state){President Wilson broke tradition by delivering his messages to Congress personally
}Dispatch applies to a usually brief message that is sent posthaste (as by telegraph, cable, or radiotelegraph). In more technical use dispatch applies to such messages sent by an authorized correspondent to a newspaper or news association; it also specifically applies to an official message, often one in cipher, sent by or to a government to or by a diplomatic, military, or naval officer in its service.Report (see also ACCOUNT 2) applies particularly to a communication sent by an official (as a diplomat) to his own government. The term is also applicable to an official communication giving a detailed statement of facts, proceedings, or recommendations{the committee on foreign affairs is ready to make a report to Congress
}{the school sends a monthly report of each student's work to his parents
}Memorandum is used chiefly in business for an informal communication sent to an executive or employee, conveying instructions or directions.
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.