received your letter of the twelfth inst.
Jeffrey Archer's "The Fourth Estate",
the boss was dictating a letter to his secretary:
"Dear Sir," dictated Townsend, "I have received your letter of the twelfth inst. New paragraph. ...."
question: what does "inst" mean here?
thank you for your help and your time

Question

received your letter of the twelfth inst.
Jeffrey Archer's "The Fourth Estate",  
the boss was dictating a letter to his secretary:
"Dear Sir," dictated Townsend, "I have received your letter of the twelfth inst. New paragraph. ...."
question: what does "inst" mean here?
thank you for your help and your time

Answer

Isnt. is short for instant. In this case it means the 15th day of the current month.

Honestly, I had never heard of this definition before I looked it up just now. It is a very old way of speech and very very uncommon today.

Source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/instant

Answers · 1

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