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• epistle
  epistle

  noun

  a letter, especially a formal or didactic one; written communication.
• Epistle
  Epistle

  noun

  New Testament any of the apostolic letters of Saints Paul, Peter, James, Jude, or John

epistle

American  

[ih-pis-uhl] / ɪˈpɪs əl /

noun

1. a letter, especially a formal or didactic one; written communication.

2. (usually initial capital letter) one of the apostolic letters in the New Testament.

3. (often initial capital letter) an extract, usually from one of the Epistles of the New Testament, forming part of the Eucharistic service in certain churches.

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Epistle ¹ British  

/ ɪˈpɪsəl /

noun

1. New Testament any of the apostolic letters of Saints Paul, Peter, James, Jude, or John

2. a reading from one of the Epistles, forming part of the Eucharistic service in many Christian Churches

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epistle ² British  

/ ɪˈpɪsəl /

noun

1. a letter, esp one that is long, formal, or didactic

2. a literary work in letter form, esp a dedicatory verse letter of a type originated by Horace

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Etymology

Origin of epistle

before 900; Middle English; Old English epistol < Latin epistula, epistola < Greek epistolḗ message, letter, equivalent to epi- epi- + stol- (variant stem of stéllein to send) + -ē noun suffix

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Explanation

An epistle is a long, formal letter. Several books of the Bible consist of epistles. If you're used to emails and text messages, you might be surprised by the idea of the epistle — a letter that is very long and also very formal. An epistle isn't something you dash off in a few minutes while waiting for the bus. Epistles take time and thought to write, almost like doing a research paper. The Bible is full of many epistles — that's where many people have seen this word.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

epistle Epistle

This epistle is full of affection, respect and especially decency—that word George Orwell found best to describe the British people after he had returned from Burma and then watched his nation go to war.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026

Yet the novel evolved incrementally from public to private, epistle to narrative as the scope of the vision enlarged.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2024

To ponder the question and practice decoding an extraterrestrial epistle, an artist-led team has created a mock message from the stars to test us Earthlings.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 3, 2023

Robert William Crampton confirmed he was hoping for "a cowboy suit and guns and a hat and everything", though his father wrote the festive epistle.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2021

On the way, Sor Asunci6n read us the epistle, which is what she called the rules we were to observe.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

A reading from the Epistle to the Colossians.

From BBC ● May 5, 2023

And with Mr. Masekela, he helped found the Jazz Epistles, a sextet of young all-stars whose 1960 LP, “Jazz Epistle: Verse 1,” signaled a turning point in modern South African jazz.

From New York Times ● Jan. 28, 2021

Andrew Solomon, a writer, activist and lecturer whose books include The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression which won the National Book Award, chose this line from Emma Lazarus’s letter collection Epistle to the Hebrews.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 22, 2019

The opening study sessions will focus on Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Romans and a related commentary by Katherine Grieb, “The Story of Romans.”

From Washington Post ● Oct. 7, 2016

A few months later, Sarah published An Epistle to the Clergy of the Southern States.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

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