The DICT Development Group

  Epistle \E*pis"tle\, v. t.
     To write; to communicate in a letter or by writing. [Obs.]
     --Milton.
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  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. ['e]p[^i]tre. 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.
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              A madman's epistles are no gospels.   --Shak.
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     2. (Eccl.) One of the letters in the New Testament which were
        addressed to their Christian brethren by Apostles.
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     Epistle side, the right side of an altar or church to a
        person looking from the nave toward the chancel.
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              One sees the pulpit on the epistle side. --R.
                                                    Browning.
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  epistle
      n 1: a specially long, formal letter
      2: a book of the New Testament written in the form of a letter
         from an Apostle