epistle Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a specially long, formal letter
  2. noun a book of the New Testament written in the form of a letter from an Apostle

WordNet

E*pis"tle noun
Etymology
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; upon, to + to dispatch, send; cf. OF. epistle, epistre, F. épître. See Stall.
Definitions
  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. Shak.
  2. (Eccl.) One of the letters in the New Testament which were addressed to their Christian brethren by Apostles.
    One sees the pulpit on the epistle side. R. Browning.
E*pis"tle transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To write; to communicate in a letter or by writing. Obs. Milton.

Webster 1913