The Madonna letters, which are interspersed with more personal missives in this curious epistolary memoir, accumulate into a rap about the downsides of celebrity - the problems of ageing, of invaded privacy, of becoming vain and impetuously adopting children from other continents.
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missive — [ misiv ] adj. f. et n. f. • 1456; du lat. missus, p. p. de mittere « envoyer » 1 ♦ Dr. Lettre missive : tout écrit qu une personne envoie à une autre par l intermédiaire d un particulier ou de la poste (lettre, carte postale, carte télégramme,… … Encyclopédie Universelle
Missive — Mis sive, a. [See {Missive}, n.] 1. Specially sent; intended or prepared to be sent; as, a letter missive. Ayliffe. [1913 Webster] 2. Missile. The missive weapons fly. Dryden. [1913 Webster] {Letters missive}, letters conveying the permission,… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
missive — Missive. Ce terme n est en usage à l adjectif que dans cette phrase, Lettre missive, qui signifie proprement une lettre escrite pour envoyer a quelqu un. Il est un peu plus usité dans le substantif, mais il est renfermé dans le style familier, &… … Dictionnaire de l'Académie française
Missive — Mis sive, n. [F. lettre missive. See {Mission}, n.] 1. That which is sent; a writing containing a message. [1913 Webster] 2. One who is sent; a messenger. [Obs.] Shak. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
missive — [mis′iv] n. [Fr (lettre) missive < ML missivus < L missus, pp. of mittere, to send: see MISSION] a letter or written message … English World dictionary
Missīve — (lat.), soviel wie Sendschreiben … Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon
Missive — Missīve (lat.), Sendschreiben, amtliche Zufertigung … Kleines Konversations-Lexikon
missive — index dispatch (message), note (brief comment) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
missive — (n.) mid 15c., commandment, noun use of adjective (mid 15c.) meaning sent by superior authority, from M.L. missivus for sending, sent, especially in littera missiva letters sent, from L. missus, pp. of mittere to send (see MISSION (Cf. mission)) … Etymology dictionary
missive — *letter, epistle, note, message, dispatch, report, memorandum … New Dictionary of Synonyms
missive — [n] written communication dispatch, epistle, letter, line, memo, memorandum, message, note, report, word; concepts 271,278 … New thesaurus
