epistle
noun /ɪˈpɪsl/
/ɪˈpɪsl/
- Epistleany of the letters in the New Testament of the Bible, written by the first people who followed Christ
- the Epistles of St Paul
- (formal or humorous) a long, serious letter on an important subject
Word OriginOld English, via Latin from Greek epistolē, from epistellein ‘send news’, from epi ‘upon, in addition’ + stellein ‘send’. The word was reintroduced in Middle English from Old French.