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.
E*pis"tle, v. t. To write; to
communicate in a letter or by writing. [Obs.]
Milton.
