E*pis"tle , v. t. To write; to communicate in a letter or by writing. [Obs.]
Milton.
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. 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.
Shak.
2. (Eccl.) 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.
R. Browning.
Hear it pronounced