epistle
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (2)
- a specially long, formal letterType of letter, missive
- a book of the New Testament written in the form of a letter from an ApostleType of bookExamples Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, Epistle to the Hebrews, First Epistle of Peter, Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Philippians, Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians, Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Philemon, First Epistle of John, Second Epistle of Peter, Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians, Second Epistle of John +11 morePart of New Testament
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: OE. epistle, epistel, AS. epistol, pistol, L. epistola, fr. Gr. … anything sent by a messenger, message, letter, fr. … to send to, tell by letter or message; ἐπί upon, to + … to dispatch, send; cf. OF. epistle, epistre, F. épître. See Stall.
1. A writing directed or sent to a person or persons; a written communication; a letter; — applied usually to formal, didactic, or elegant letters.
A madman's epistles are no gospels.— William Shakespeare
2. Church One of the letters in the New Testament which were addressed to their Christian brethren by Apostles.
Epistle side, the right side of an altar or church to a person looking from the nave toward the chancel.
One sees the pulpit on the epistle side.— Robert Browning
To write; to communicate in a letter or by writing. obsolete John Milton
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54