Pamphlet

Pamphlet

Noun · /ˈpæm.flɪt/

Definition

A small, unbound booklet or leaflet, typically containing information or argument on a single subject — usually printed on a few sheets of paper, folded but not bound, and intended for distribution to the public. Historically, a key medium for political, religious, and social argument.

Origin

From Middle English pamfilet, from Old French Pamphilet — a diminutive of the name Pamphilus, from the title of a twelfth-century Latin love poem, Pamphilus, seu de Amore (Pamphilus, or On Love), which was widely copied and circulated as a small booklet. The poem's title becoming a generic term for any small circulated text. The word therefore named after a fictional character in a popular medieval poem, becoming a term for the format in which the poem was distributed. One of the more charming etymological stories in English — a love poem giving its name to a political format.