What is the difference between a booklet and a pamphlet?

Girl with a basket of pamphlets in a French 18th century painting

Although trees seem to have taken over my blogging life lately, I also sometimes ponder the meaning and origins of words. Bear with me as I invite you to consider the differences between a leaflet, a booklet, a pamphlet and a brochure.

I have often thought about this (I must be a very sad person), but it became topical recently with the UK Governments decision to spend £9m of taxpayers money on a slim publication to be sent to all homes to give just the one side of the European Referendum debate, in favour of Britain staying in the European Union.

The referendum is on June 23 and it is supposed to be a free vote. I dont aim to get political here and I am still one of the undecided, but I did notice that the words leaflet, booklet, pamphlet and brochure were all used by various news reporters to describe the publication.

UK Government booklet extolling the virtues of Britain staying in the European Union

Although in real life the terms are often treated as interchangeable, I like to get things straight in my mind and I find the origins of the words pamphlet and brochure particularly interesting

Leaflet

The word leaf, meaning the usually flat and thin organ on a plant, came to us through the Old English word lēaf but beyond that from something similar in an Indo-European ancestral language. We have come to call a page of paper a leaf because it is also thin and flat.

The suffix -let means little, so a leaflet is a little leaf, in both senses of the word a small part of a compound leaf on a plant, or a flimsy piece of paper, often folded.

To my mind a paper leaflet is small, thin, sometimes folded and never (in my opinion) stapled. There are several basic folding patterns:

1 letter fold or roll fold; 2 gate fold; 3 double gate fold; 4 accordion, concertina, zig-zag or z fold; 5 double parallel fold; 6 french or double right-angle fold

Here are a couple from my own collection

Concertina or zig-zag fold

On the left is a leaflet french folded but also letter folded, on the right a double parallel fold

The leaflet on the left of the previous picture, here unfolded

But whether folded or unfolded in design, to me a leaflet is never stapled. That would make it a booklet.

Booklet

Stapled leaflets become booklets

The work book comes from the Old English bōc, originally also meaning a document or charter. It probably also relates further back to bece, meaning beech tree, from an ancestral Indo-European word bhagos, which relates to the Greek phegos, meaning oak and Latin fagus beech (perhaps because runes were carved on the wood).

As before, the suffix -let means little, so a booklet is a little book.

In my opinion a booklet is always stapled or perfect bound. If it grows to have the dimensions of a paperback it becomes a book unless it is extremely skinny, in which case I might accept its still a booklet.

Booklets the one on the right stapled, the one on the left perfect bound along the spine

Pamphlet

This pamphlet from 1671, containing a sermon by minister William Thomson, is in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University

A pamphlet is a small booklet with no cover. Its cheap to produce so it has been used for centuries to widely disseminate information, political or religious views. Although pamphlets have become a vehicle for campaigning, the first apparently contained a comic love poem, Pamphilus, seu de Amore (Pamphilus, or Concerning Love), so popular it was widely copied as a slim little booklet.

Pamphiluss name is from the Greek, meaning beloved of all and around 1387 the general name for such little booklets became pamphilet or panflet.

The modern meaning of a pamphlet as a controversial tract comes from around 1642 in the heated arguments leading to the English Civil War. In French a pamphlet is a libelle, from the Latin libellus, meaning a little book and we seem to get our word libel (meaning written defamation) from the same place.

Brochure

Tourism brochures glossy, larger-format and stitched

The word brochure is French, meaning a stitched work, from brocher to stitch (sheets together), from the Old French brochier, meaning to prick, jab, pierce, from broche, a pointed tool or awl. So it is definitely stitched or stapled, to my mind.

While a pamphlet is usually controversial, a brochure is usually larger in format, glossy and very commercial, trying to sell you something, such as a holiday or a new fitted kitchen.

So what does that make the Government leaflet on the European Referendum vote? A brochure because it is trying to sell you an idea? Or a pamphlet because its controversial?

Prime Minister David Cameron with his referendum booklet or pamphlet or brochure

If you are interested, here are some more of my blog posts about words

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Posted in Uncategorized, Words | Tagged Words | 17 Comments

17 Responses

1. on May 26, 2016 at 3:47 pm | Reply btweenblinks

   As a graphic designer, I use these words frequently. I found it interesting to hear a little about the origins and meanings of words I dont give much thought to.

   Another thing that is interesting is that word meanings can vary from region to region. Here are a couple of examples from your list:

   When I think of the word leaflet, I think of a single sheet, rarely folded, and generally only printed on one side. A leaflet can contain graphics, but is often heavier on text. It is also called a flyer (flier is also acceptable, but is only used half as much to mean a leaflet). I suppose the word handbill can also be used, but it is not a word I have ever used.

   The other word in your list which I think of in a slightly different way is brochure. Even though its French origin says otherwise, I tend to think of a brochure in a much wider context. To me a brochure is always folded, usually with multiple folds, unless it is stitched, in which case it has multiple pages. As the pages increase, a stitched brochure becomes more of a booklet, and to carry this further, at some undefined number of pages, a booklet becomes a book.

   I dont really know if my variations of meaning are my own personal misinterpretations of these words, differences in regional definitions, or just the inheritance vagueness and ambiguity of the words themselves but I can see where it would be easy to get caught up in the minutiae of word meanings, origins, variations and regional differences.

   Nice article, Pat!

   
   
   • on May 28, 2016 at 10:43 am | Reply squirrelbasket

     Thanks for your kind comments!
     I am also half graphic designer (newspaper page designer, so not a proper artist type) so I get your point.
     Although there may be regional and national differences, I am beginning to feel there are personal interpretations, too.
     I must stop trying to pin things down so exactly.
     I was going to mention flyer and handbill and even magazine, but thought I would keep it short for a change.
     I (personally) NEVER think of a brochure as folded without stapling and I always think of a flier/flyer as totally unfolded.
     As for the amount of text and graphics, it had crossed my mind but so many small leaflets now are graphics-rich. However, I do think of a pamphlet as text rich.
     Food for thought
     All the best

     
     
2. on May 26, 2016 at 4:30 pm | Reply

   Shaz Goodwin

   Oh Ive missed you writing these posts (but I do enjoy your news about trees too).

   Very interesting. It makes me wonder if we should have a new word for leaflets/pamphlets/brochures being available online and digital!

   
   
   • on May 28, 2016 at 10:54 am | Reply squirrelbasket

     Thank you, Ive missed them, too! But I have tree pictures to last me years and have to make a special effort to do other things. I still try to do at least one post a month that is different, but time is so short, now I am working in an office three days a week again.
     Currently reading The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon, which I thought was one of your recommendations, but I cant find any reference to it now, so who knows where I saw it!
     All the best

     
     
     • on May 28, 2016 at 11:19 am

       Shaz Goodwin

       I wasnt criticising you Pat sometimes words alone are inadequate (see what I did there hahaha).

       I did see quite a buzz about The Bone Season on Twitter. Hope you enjoy.

       
       
3. on May 27, 2016 at 9:22 am | Reply Paul Seligman

   Nice. And started me thinking of phrases like:turning over a new leaf, taking a leaf out of someones book (which could have two meanings e.g. if the book in question contained pressed leaves.), leafing through a book.

   
   
   • on May 28, 2016 at 10:55 am | Reply squirrelbasket

     Hadnt thought about taking a pressed leaf from a book!
     Best wishes

     
     
4. on May 27, 2016 at 9:58 am | Reply Paul Seligman

   Strangely, I just read a book review (of Memories by Teffi) which repeatedly uses the word feuilletons. Feuille, of course, is the French for leaf, in the sense of a book page as well as a tree, and this diminutive was apparently given to short, caustic, humorous pieces.

   
   
   • on May 28, 2016 at 11:01 am | Reply squirrelbasket

     Interesting! And of course when you go looking you find all sorts of other links feuille is from Latin folio, and apparently it goes back to an ancient proto-indo-european word that means green and is also reflected in the Welsh word ddeilen, meaning a leaf.
     And then theres something called feuilletine, which seems to be a food made from very thin crepes, crumbled
     All the best

     
     
5. on May 27, 2016 at 11:31 pm | Reply Diana Studer

   with Shaz, these posts about words are how I first came to read your blog.

   
   
   • on May 28, 2016 at 11:03 am | Reply squirrelbasket

     Its funny how things link up. Maybe I should do a piece on English words from Dutch/Afrikaans roots, to go with some others I have written about foreign word origins. Theres an idea! Thanks.
     All the best

     
     
6. on May 28, 2016 at 1:56 pm | Reply philipstrange

   Thanks for a very thought provoking piece. In my house the governments leaflet is now recycled paper but that shouldnt be taken as any comment on the content.

   
   
   • on May 31, 2016 at 4:13 pm | Reply squirrelbasket

     Yes, its so difficult to remain uncontroversial!
     Best wishes

     
     
7. on May 28, 2016 at 8:25 pm | Reply Hollis Marriott

   Interesting, Pat, and timely. Ive been pondering chapbook as I wish to make one I think. Some people consider them specific to poetry, but Ive also seen reference to simple, cheaply produced small books, with simple illustrations. How about in the UK?

   
   
   • on May 31, 2016 at 4:17 pm | Reply squirrelbasket

     Thats an interesting one and with hindsight I wonder why I didnt mention that term here.
     Funnily enough, I did mention it in an earlier blog post: words-cheapside-chepstow-and-all-sorts-of-chaps.
     I see that the word is back in usage in America, although here I think we might still call such a thing a pamphlet.
     It sounds a lovely idea to make your own! Do tell us how that goes

     
     
8. on January 4, 2020 at 9:33 am | Reply Diana Studer

   I have just added a link to your word posts as I chewed over the missing second i in carillon.

   
   
   • on January 12, 2020 at 1:08 pm | Reply squirrelbasket

     I have commented on your post.
     I must admit I would probably have said carillion if I hadnt checked, as we had a big British construction company called Carillion, which went bust in 2018. Interestingly the branding consultants who came up with the clever name made it an intentional corruption of carillon purely to give it a unique identity.
     All the best

     
     

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