Concept in Definition ABC

The word missive comes from Latin, specifically from the verb mittere, which means to send. It is equivalent to a letter, that is, the written document that serves to communicate something to another person. Although the terms letter and missive have the same meaning, the former is part of the language colloquial and the second is a cultism that is hardly used in everyday life.

At the same time, it is an archaism, that is, a word that in other times was used with relative normality but with the passage of time it has disappeared from the colloquial vocabulary in the present.

The evolution of written messages

Since the Sumerian people invented the first alphabet to the present day, written messages have not stopped evolving.

For centuries, if someone wanted to communicate with another person who was at a great distance, he had no choice but to send her a letter or missive in the mail. Is tradition It has not disappeared, but it is very likely that in a few years handwritten letters will be a rarity.

At present, the use of email has largely replaced the classic cards of the past. Even the email itself is becoming an outdated medium in front of the message system of text WhatsApp or SMS from social networks.

Synonyms and terms related to written messages

Although synonymy expresses the equivalence of meaning between different words, that two words are synonymous does not mean that they have exactly the same meaning, since each word has a huesingular that differentiates it from the other.

We use the word letter to refer to any written document in which a transmitter communicates something to a receiver. Instead, the term missive is used in language contexts typical of other times or with the intention of using a cultism.

- An epistle is also a synonym for letter, but this term is used as a record worship. Famous in the books of the New Testament are the Pauline Epistles, the writings that Paul of Tarsus addressed to Christian believers.

- A statement is a document that includes a series of clauses or conditions related to some type of activity.

- An obituary is a funeral notice in which the death of a person is communicated.

- An e-mail or electronic mail is also a form of letter, but in this case the physical medium is digital.

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