A. Term, Terminology, Origins
A letter is a written message to an absent recipient. The Greek epistolḗ (ἐπιστολή) is the verbal noun for ἐπιστέλλειν; epistéllein, ‘to give a message (to a messenger)’ or ‘to send a written or oral message (to s.o.)’; epistolḗ means ‘a sent message’, which in earlier times could also include an oral message. Synonyms: grámmata…