missive

mis·sive

(mĭs′ĭv)

A written message; a letter. See Synonyms at letter.

[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.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

missive

(ˈmɪsɪv)

1. a formal or official letter

2. a formal word for letter

adj

rare sent or intended to be sent

[C15: from Medieval Latin missivus, from mittere to send]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mis•sive

(ˈmɪs ɪv)

n.

a written message; letter.

[1400–50; late Middle English (letter) missive < Medieval Latin (littera)missīva sent (letter)]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

missive - a written message addressed to a person or organization; "mailed an indignant letter to the editor"

letter

document - anything serving as a representation of a person's thinking by means of symbolic marks

mail - the bags of letters and packages that are transported by the postal service

text, textual matter - the words of something written; "there were more than a thousand words of text"; "they handed out the printed text of the mayor's speech"; "he wants to reconstruct the original text"

correspondence - communication by the exchange of letters

business letter - a letter dealing with business

cover letter, covering letter - a letter sent along with other documents to provide additional information

crank letter - a hostile (usually anonymous) letter

encyclical, encyclical letter - a letter from the pope sent to all Roman Catholic bishops throughout the world

fan letter - a letter that is a piece of fan mail

personal letter - a letter dealing with personal affairs

form letter - a letter that is printed in multiple copies and mailed to a list of recipients

open letter - a letter of protest; addressed to one person but intended for the general public

chain letter - a letter that is sent successively to several people

pastoral - a letter from a pastor to the congregation

round robin - a letter signed by a number of people

aerogram, aerogramme, air letter, airmail letter - a letter sent by air mail

epistle - a specially long, formal letter

dead mail, dead letter - mail that can neither be delivered nor returned

letter of intent - any letter expressing an intention to take (or forgo) some action

postscript, PS - a note appended to a letter after the signature

name and address, destination, address - written directions for finding some location; written on letters or packages that are to be delivered to that location

line - text consisting of a row of words written across a page or computer screen; "the letter consisted of three short lines"; "there are six lines in every stanza"

invitation - a request (spoken or written) to participate or be present or take part in something; "an invitation to lunch"; "she threw the invitation away"

missive

noun letter, report, note, message, communication, dispatch, memorandum, epistle the customary missive from your mother

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

missive

noun

A written communication directed to another:

epistle, letter, note.

Translations

oficio

missiva

missive

[ˈmɪsɪv] N → misiva f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

missive

[ˈmɪsɪv] n → missive f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

missive

n (form, old) → Schreiben nt (form)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

missive

[ˈmɪsɪv] n (old) → missiva

References in classic literature ?

I'm off!" I broke the seal with a great effort-- so great a one that I was a long time coming to it; took the unopened missive at last up to my room and only attacked it just before going to bed.

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The coins abstracted and the missive written, he could not be gone too soon from the scene of these transgressions; and remembering how his father had once returned from church, on some slight illness, in the middle of the second psalm, he durst not even make a packet of a change of clothes.

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Whilst he was hastily packing together a few articles for his journey he glanced over a poor plain missive also lately come to hand--the one from Marian and Izz Huett, beginning

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"It will please me to have my subjects greet Princess Dorothy, the bearer of this royal missive, with the same courtesy and consideration they would extend to me."

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Monsieur Guillot was engrossed in reading the few lines of the missive. When he had finished, he covered the paper with the palm of his hand and leaned forward.

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He doesn't say much, to be sure, but his very silence implies more than all the others' words, and the less he says, the more he thinks - and this is Hargrave's missive. He is particularly grieved at me, because, forsooth he had fallen in love with you from his sister's reports, and meant to have married you himself, as soon as he had sown his wild oats.'

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Captain Mayhew, stand by now to receive it; and taking the fatal missive from Starbuck's hands, he caught it in the slit of the pole, and reached it over towards the boat.

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The HOUYHNHNMS indeed appear not to be so well prepared for war, a science to which they are perfect strangers, and especially against missive weapons.

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As he spoke a missive sped through a window and fell clattering upon his plate, causing him to spring back in alarm.

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Monk took up a pen, wrote a single line, signed it, folded the paper, sealed the letter with the seal of his ring, and handed over the missive to Athos, saying, "Monsieur, carry, if you please, this letter to King Charles II., and set out immediately, if nothing detains you here any longer."

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A gray ball, the color of the twilight, might escape observation, where a white missive fluttering down from an upper window would surely be seen by someone.

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Notwithstanding, my journey homeward was sadder than my journey thither; and many misgivings I had, ere I could prevail on myself to put the missive into Mrs.