envoi

noun

en·​voi ˈen-ˌvoi  ˈän- 

variants or envoy

: the usually explanatory or commendatory concluding remarks to a poem, essay, or book

especially : a short final stanza of a ballad serving as a summary or dedication

Examples of envoi in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The new Oxford edition, ever dutiful, treats us to the poet’s earnest envoi, its stanzas stiff with respectable yearning. —Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024

An environmental envoi, perhaps, with Buzz washed up on a beach alongside other jetsam, or clogging the gullet of a whale? —Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 21 June 2019

Word History

Etymology

Middle English envoye, from Middle French envoi, literally, message, from Old French envei, from enveier to send on one's way, from Vulgar Latin *inviare, from Latin in- + via way — more at way

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above