Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A written message; a letter. synonym: letter.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Sent or proceeding, as from some authoritative or official source.
  • Thrown or hurled; missile.
  • noun That which is sent; specifically, a written message; a letter; especially, in Scots law, a letter interchanged between parties, in which the one party offers to enter into a contract on certain conditions, and the other party accepts the offer, completing the contract.
  • noun A person sent; a messenger.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Specially sent; intended or prepared to be sent.
  • adjective Missile.
  • adjective letters conveying the permission, comand, or advice of a superior authority, as a sovereign. They are addressed and sent to some certain person or persons, and are distinguished from letters patent, which are addressed to the public.
  • noun That which is sent; a writing containing a message.
  • noun obsolete One who is sent; a messenger.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun formal A written message; a letter, note or memo.
  • noun obsolete One who is sent; a messenger.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a written message addressed to a person or organization

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Middle English (letter) missive, (letter) sent (by superior authority), from Medieval Latin (litterae) missīvae, feminine pl. of missīvus, sent, from Latin missus, past participle of mittere, to send.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

15th Century; from Medieval Latin missivus, from mittere ("to send").

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Examples

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  • a written note or letter

    August 1, 2009