Epistle — E*pis tle, n. [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; epi upon, to + ? to dispatch, send; cf. OF. epistle, epistre, F. [… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
epistle — refers primarily to the letters of the New Testament, e.g. the Epistle of St Paul the Apostle to the Romans. It is sometimes used ironically or whimsically to mean a letter of any kind: • When mischievous gossip columnists were prompted to… … Modern English usage
epistle — ► NOUN 1) formal or humorous a letter. 2) (Epistle) a book of the New Testament in the form of a letter from an Apostle. ORIGIN Greek epistol , from epistellein send news … English terms dictionary
epistle — [ē pis′əl] n. [ME epistel < OFr epistle (& OE epistol) < L epistola, epistula < Gr epistolē, a letter, message < epistellein, to send to < epi , to + stellein, to send, summon: see STALK1] 1. a letter, esp. a long, formal,… … English World dictionary
Epistle — E*pis tle, v. t. To write; to communicate in a letter or by writing. [Obs.] Milton. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
epistle — index dispatch (message) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
Epistle — [ıˈpısəl] n one of the letters in the New Testament of the Bible … Dictionary of contemporary English
epistle — *letter, missive, note, message, dispatch, report, memorandum … New Dictionary of Synonyms
epistle — [n] letter billet doux*, cannonball*, card, communication, dispatch, FYI*, get well, invite, kite*, line*, love letter, memo, message, missive, note, poison pen*, postcard, scratch*, tab*, thank you; concept 271 … New thesaurus
Epistle — An epistle (pronounced [ɪˈpɪsəl] ) (Greek επιστολη, epistolē, letter ) is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of persons, usually a letter and a very formal, often didactic and elegant one. The letters in the New Testament from… … Wikipedia
