What does envoi mean?
An envoi is a short stanza or passage that closes a poem, most famously associated with medieval French lyric forms such as the ballade, where it conventionally addresses a prince, patron, or beloved and asks for favor. The word comes from the French envoyer, 'to send,' because the envoi was understood as the poet's act of dispatching the finished work to its recipient. Beyond its technical use in prosody, envoi has broadened to mean any valedictory conclusion — a parting word, a final dedication, a graceful sign-off at the end of a book or essay. It carries a refined, slightly formal connotation and is encountered mainly in literary criticism and scholarly prose rather than everyday conversation. Writers reach for it when they want to name, with precision and elegance, that distinctive moment when a work turns to face its reader one last time before falling silent.
nounA concluding stanza or short passage at the end of a poem, serving as a dedication or address to a person; more broadly, a concluding remark or farewell.
- A short concluding stanza of a poem, especially in medieval French lyric forms such as the ballade, often addressing a patron or dedicatee.
- A concluding remark, farewell, or valedictory passage in writing or speech.
"The poet closed the collection with a brief envoi dedicated to his late mentor."
"The ballade's envoi addressed Prince Chaucer with the traditional plea for mercy."
"Her memoir ends with an envoi thanking the small town that shaped her."
The standard English plural adds -s; some scholarly texts retain the identical French plural form 'envois'.
"Machaut's ballades all end with carefully crafted envois."
Every medieval French poet knew you shouldn't end a poem without one — the envoi was literally the 'sending' that dispatched the verse to its reader.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of envoi
Envoi derives from Old French envoi, a noun formed from envoyer ('to send'), which itself traces back through Vulgar Latin *inviare to the Late Latin via ('way, road'). The term entered English in the late 19th century through literary scholarship on medieval French poetry, where it named the conventional closing stanza of forms like the ballade. It shares its root with envoy, envelope, and convey.
How envoi is actually used
The term is literary and somewhat formal or scholarly, appearing chiefly in discussions of poetry and prosody. In the strict sense it applies to fixed-form poems (ballade, chant royal); looser modern uses treat any closing dedication as an envoi. Pronunciation is anglicized from French and varies.
Easily confused with envoi
An envoy is a diplomatic messenger or representative, while an envoi is the concluding stanza or farewell passage of a poem.