epistle English · revision 1487

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 893}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɪˈpɪs.əl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is partly [[inh|ang|epistol]], [[m|ang|pistol]], from Latin, and partly [[inh|enm|epistle]], [[m|enm|epistel]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Hoad 1986)^(Collins 2023) [[bor|fro|epistle]], [[m|fro|epistre]] (modern [[fr|épître]]),^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la|epistola]], [[m|la|epistula|t=letter]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from [[grc|ἐπιστολή|tr=epistolḗ|t=message, letter, command]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from [[m|grc|ἐπιστέλλειν|tr=epistéllein|t=to send to, send as a message]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from [[m|grc|ἐπί|tr=epí|t=to]] (see [[epi-]]) and [[m|grc|στέλλειν|tr=stéllein|t=to make ready, send]],^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Klein 1966) from [[ine-pro|*stel-|t=to put, stand, put in order]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A letter, a written communication to someone absent (c. 893 in the OED, in Old English); in Middle English, one of the apostolic letters of the New Testament (probably before 1200 in Barnhart).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Because it was used in translations of Latin and Greek, the word was applied chiefly to letters of ancient times or to formal letters.^(OED 1989) From about 1385 it named a literary work, usually a poem, written in the form of a letter,^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023) such as the verse letters of Horace.^(Collins 2023) In church use ''the Epistle'' is the reading from one of the New Testament letters at the Eucharist (c. 1440).^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) The aphetic form ''pistle'' was common in Middle English.^(Weekley 1921)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 893 – Old English ''epistol'', a letter.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1200 – an apostolic letter.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1385 – a literary work in letter form.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1440 – the liturgical reading.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1656 – ''epistolary''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[letter]], especially a long, formal or didactic one.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A literary composition in the form of a letter, often in verse.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023)

+ # One of the letters of the apostles included as books in the [[New Testament]]; usually capitalized.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A reading from one of these letters, forming part of a Christian service.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[epistoler]]

+ * [[epistle side]]

+ * [[Pastoral Epistle]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[epistolary]]

+ * [[epistolic]]

+ * [[epistolize]]

+ * [[epistolography]]

+ * [[apostle]]

+ * [[stall]]

+ * [[stele]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}