epistle

English

Etymology

The noun is derived from Middle English epistel, epistole, pistel (“letter; literary work in letter form; written legend or story; spoken communication; (Christianity) one of the letters by an apostle in the New Testament; extract from such a letter read as part of the Mass”) , and then partly:

• from Old English epistol, epistola, pistol (“letter, epistle”), from Latin epistola (“letter, epistle; literary work in letter form”) (whence Late Latin epistola (“one of the letters by an apostle in the New Testament”)), from Ancient Greek ἐπῐστολή (epistolḗ, “letter; message”), from ἐπῐστέλλω (epistéllō, “to inform by, or to send, a letter or message”) (from ἐπῐ- (epi-, prefix meaning ‘on, upon’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi (“at; near; on”)) + στέλλω (stéllō, “to dispatch, send”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to locate; to place, put”))) + -η (-ē, suffix forming action nouns); and
• from Anglo-Norman epistle, and Middle French epistle, epistele, epistole (“letter; (Christianity) one of the letters by an apostle in the New Testament; extract from such a letter read as part of the Mass”) (modern French épître), from Latin epistola (see above).

The verb is derived from the noun.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪˈpɪsl̩/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪˈpɪs(ə)l/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪsəl
• Hyphenation: epis‧tle

Noun

epistle (plural epistles)

1. A literary composition in the form of a letter or series of letters, especially one in verse.
   • 1608, Joseph Hall, “To the High and Mightie Prince, Henrie, Prince of Great Britaine, Sonne and Heyre Apparant to Our Soueraigne Lord, Iames, King of Great Brit. &c. All Glorie in Either World”, in Epistles , volume I, London: H L for Samuel Macham & E Edgar , →OCLC, 1st decade:

     [Y]our Grace ſhal herein perceiue a nevv faſhion of diſcourſe, by Epistles; nevv to our language, uſual to others: and (as Noueltie is neuer vvithout ſome plea of vſe) more free, more familiar.

   • 1697, John Dryden, “To the Most Honourable John, Lord Marquess of Normanby, ”, in Virgil, translated by John Dryden, The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. , London: Jacob Tonson, , →OCLC, page :

     For in this Addreſs to your Lordſhip, I deſign not a Treatiſe of Heroick Poetry, but vvrite in a looſe Epiſtolary vvay, ſomevvhat tending to that Subject, after the Example of Horace, in his Firſt Epiſtle of the Second Book to Auguſtus Cæſar, and of that to the Piſo’s, vvhich vve call his Art of Poetry.

   • 1714 November 21 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison?], “WEDNESDAY, November 10, 1714”, in The Spectator, number 618; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, , volume VI, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 477:

     But let our poet, while he writes epistles, though never so familiar, still remember that he writes in verse, and must for that reason have a more than ordinary care not to fall into prose and a vulgar diction, excepting where the nature and humour of the thing does necessarily require it.

     The spelling has been modernized.

   • 1748, [David Hume], “Essay III. Of the Connexion of Ideas.”, in Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding, London: A Millar, , →OCLC, page 34:

     In all Compoſitions of Genius, therefore, 'tis requiſite that the VVriter have ſome Plan or Object; and tho' he may be hurry'd from this Plan by the Vehemence of Thought, as in an Ode, or drop it careleſly, as in an Epiſtle or Eſſay, there muſt appear ſome Aim or Intention, in his firſt ſetting out, if not in the Compoſition of the vvhole VVork.

2. (chiefly literary or humorous) A letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly.
   • a. 1536 (date written), Thomas More, “The Life of John Picus Erle of Myrandula, . Chapter IIII.”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, , London: Iohn Cawod, Iohn Waly, and Richarde Tottell, published April 1557, →OCLC, book III, page 15, column 1:

     After that John Frauncis [i.e., Giovanni Francesco Pico della Mirandola], the neuiew of Picꝰ [Picus], had (as it appeareth in the firſt epiſtle of Picus to him) begon a chaunge in his liuyng: […]

   • a. 1569 (date written), Roger Ascham, “The First Booke for the Youth ”, in Margaret Ascham, editor, The Scholemaster: Or Plaine and Perfite Way of Teaching Children, to Vnderstand, Write, and Speake, the Latin Tong, , London: John Daye, , published 1570, →OCLC, folio 25, verso:

     Plato alſo, that diuine Philoſopher, hath many Godly medicines agaynſt the poyſon of vayne pleaſure, in many places, but ſpecially in his Epistles to Dioniſius the tyrant of Sicilie: […]

   • c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 261, column 2:

     I vvill drop in his vvay ſome obſcure Epiſtles of loue, vvherein by the colour of his beard, the ſhape of his legge, the manner of his gate, the expreſſure of his eye, forehead, and complection, he ſhall finde himſelfe moſt feelingly perſonated.

   • 1645 May 15 (Gregorian calendar), James Howell, “LXIII. To the Honourable Master Car. Ra.”, in Epistolæ Ho-Elianæ. Familiar Letters Domestic and Forren. , 3rd edition, volume II, London: Humphrey Mosley, , published 1655, →OCLC, section VI, page 373:

     [I]n publiſhing theſe Epiſtles at this Time, you pleaſe to ſay, That I have done like Hezekiah, vvhen he ſhevved his Treaſures to the Babylonians, that I have diſcovered my Riches to Thieves, vvho vvill bind me faſt and ſhare my Goods. To this I anſvver, that if thoſe innocent Letters (for I knovv none of them but is ſuch) fall among ſuch Thieves, they vvill have no great prize to carry avvay, it vvill be but petty larceny: […]

   • 1781, Edward Gibbon, “Constantius Sole Emperor.— ”, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume II, London: W Strahan; and T Cadell, , →OCLC, footnote 12, page 129, column 1:

     The moſt authentic account of the education and adventures of Julian, is contained in the epiſtle or manifeſto vvhich he himſelf addreſſed to the ſenate and people of Athens.

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXVIII, in Francesca Carrara. , volume III, London: Richard Bentley, , (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 232:

     At this moment his page entered with a packet. "Lights!" said Evelyn, carelessly—for, as our readers will have already divined, he was the melancholy soliloquist—"I may as well read the Cardinal's epistle at once;—but I am no tool for his purpose.

   • 1839, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], Richelieu; or, The Conspiracy: , London: Saunders and Otley, , →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 26, line 24:

     Wide flew the doors, and lo, / Messire de Beringhen, and this epistle!

   • 1914 September – 1915 May, Arthur Conan Doyle, “Epilogue”, in The Valley of Fear: A Sherlock Holmes Novel, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 27 February 1915, →OCLC, part II (The Scowrers), page 317:

     Then one morning there came an enigmatic note slipped into our letterbox. "Dear me, Mr. Holmes. Dear me!" said this singular epistle. There was neither superscription nor signature. I laughed at the quaint message; but Holmes showed unwonted seriousness.

   1. (specifically, historical) Chiefly with a qualifying word, as in epistle dedicatory: a letter of dedication addressed to a patron or reader published as a preface to a literary work.
      • 1596, Tho[mas] Nashe, “To the Most Orthodoxall and Reverent Corrector of Staring Haires, , Don Richardo Barbarossa de Cæsario, ”, in Haue with You to Saffron-Walden. Or, Gabriell Harveys Hunt is Up. , London: John Danter, →OCLC; republished as J[ohn] P[ayne] C[ollier], editor, Have with You to Saffron-Walden (Miscellaneous Tracts; Temp. Eliz. and Jac. I), , →OCLC, page 6:

        [I]n the Epiſtle Dedicatorie thereof to a great man of this land, whom he calls his verie right honourable good Lord, he recounteth his large bounties beſtowed upon him, and talkes of the ſecret favours which hee did him in his ſtudie or cloſet at court.

      • 1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], “To the Right Worshipful John Offley of Madely Manor in the County of Stafford, Esq; My Most Honoured Friend”, in The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, , London: T. Maxey for Rich Marriot, , →OCLC; reprinted as The Compleat Angler (Homo Ludens; 6), Nieuwkoop, South Holland, Netherlands: Miland Publishers, 1969, →ISBN:

        [L]eſt a longer Epiſtle may diminiſh your pleaſure, I ſhal not adventure to make this Epiſtle longer then to add this follovving truth, That I am really, Sir, Your moſt affectionate Friend, and moſt humble Servant, Iz[aak] Wa[lton].

3. (Christianity)
   2. One of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle to an individual or a community.
      • a. 1632 (date written), John Donne, “To Sr. G. M.”, in John Donne [the Younger], editor, Letters to Severall Persons of Honour: , London: J. Fletcher for Richard Marriot, , published 1651, →OCLC, page 106:

        The Evangiles and Acts, teach us vvhat to beleeve, but the Epiſtles of the Apoſtles vvhat to do.

      • 1695, [John Locke], The Reasonableness of Christianity, as Delivered in the Scriptures, London: Awnsham and John Churchil, , →OCLC, page 190:

        [T]he Doctrine of Faith, and Myſtery of Salvation, vvas more fully explained, in the Epiſtles vvrit by the Apoſtles.

      • 1956 November, Werner Keller, “In the Steps of St. Paul”, in William Neil, transl., The Bible as History: Archaeology Confirms the Book of Books, London: Hodder & Stoughton, →OCLC, page 360:

        Even last century scholars had begun to search for the cities in Asia Minor whose names have become so familiar to the Christian world through the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of St. Paul. Where were the places whose inhabitants received the famous Epistle to the Galatians?

   3. An extract from a New Testament epistle (sense 3.1) or book other than a gospel which is read during a church service, chiefly the Eucharist.
      • 1549 March 7, Thomas Cranmer [et al.], compilers, “The Supper of the Lorde, and the Holy Communion, Commonly Called the Masse”, in The Booke of the Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacramentes, , London: Edowardi Whitchurche , →OCLC, folio cxxij, verso:

        The Collectes ended, the prieſt, or he that is appointed, ſhall reade the Epiſtle, in a place aſſigned for the purpoſe, ſaying. The Epiſtle of ſainct Paule written in the [blank] Chapiter of [blank] to the.

      • 1721, N[athan] Bailey, “EPISTLER”, in An Universal Etymological English Dictionary: , London: E. Bell, J. Darby, , →OCLC, column 2:

        EPISTLER, He vvho reads the Epiſtles in a Cathedral Church, &c.

Alternative forms

• (New Testament book; extract read during a church service): Epistle

Synonyms

• pistle (archaic or obsolete)

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• open letter

Verb

epistle (third-person singular simple present epistles, present participle epistling, simple past and past participle epistled)

1. (transitive)
   1. (chiefly literary or humorous) To write (something) in, or in the form of, a letter.
      • 1596, Tho[mas] Nashe, “Dialogus”, in Haue with You to Saffron-Walden. Or, Gabriell Harveys Hunt is Up. , London: John Danter, →OCLC; republished as J[ohn] P[ayne] C[ollier], editor, Have with You to Saffron-Walden (Miscellaneous Tracts; Temp. Eliz. and Jac. I), , →OCLC, page 95:

        His braynes, his time, all hys maintenance and exhibition upon it he hath conſumed, and never intermitted, till ſuch time as he beganne to epiſtle it againſt mee, ſince which I have kept him a work indifferently.

   2. (chiefly literary or humorous, archaic) To write a letter to (someone).
   3. (rare) To write (something) as an introduction or preface to a literary work; also, to provide (a literary work) with an introduction or preface.
      • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, . Of that Sort of Dramatic Poem which is Call’d Tragedy.”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: J. M for John Starkey , →OCLC, page 4:

        And though antient Tragedy uſe no Prologue, yet uſing ſometimes, in caſe of ſelf defence, or explanation, that vvhich Martial calls an Epiſtle; in behalf of this Tragedy coming forth after the antient manner, much different from vvhat among us paſſes for beſt, thus much before-hand may be Epiſtl'd; that Chorus is here introduc'd after the Greek manner, not antient only but modern, and ſtill in uſe among the Italians.

2. (intransitive, chiefly literary or humorous)
   1. To write a letter.
      • 1596, Tho[mas] Nashe, “Dialogus”, in Haue with You to Saffron-Walden. Or, Gabriell Harveys Hunt is Up. , London: John Danter, →OCLC; republished as J[ohn] P[ayne] C[ollier], editor, Have with You to Saffron-Walden (Miscellaneous Tracts; Temp. Eliz. and Jac. I), , →OCLC, page 66:

        Devinitie (the heaven of all artes) for a while drew his thoughts unto it; but ſhortly after the world, the fleſh, and the divell with-drewe him from that, and needes he would be of a more gentleman-like luſtie cut: whereupon hee fell to morrall epiſtling and poetrie.

   2. To communicate with someone through a letter.

Derived terms

• epistling (noun)

Translations

References

Further reading

• epistle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• pelites, septile