# epistle

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɪˈpɪsl̩/ · frequency rank #32,795

## Definitions
1. A literary composition in the form of a letter or series of letters, especially one in verse.
2. A letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly.
3. A letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly.
4. One of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle to an individual or a community.
5. An extract from a New Testament epistle (noun sense 3.1) or book other than a gospel which is read during a church service, chiefly the Eucharist.

## Etymology
PIE word
 *h₁epi
The noun is derived from Middle English epistel, epistole, pistel (“letter; literary work in letter form; written legend or story; spoken communication; (Christianity) one of the letters by an apostle in the New Testament; extract from such a letter read as part of the Mass”) [and other forms], and then partly:
* from Old English epistol, epistola, pistol (“letter, epistle”), from Latin epistola (“letter, epistle; literary work in letter form”) (whence Late Latin epistola (“one of the letters by an apostle in the New Testament”)), from Ancient Greek ἐπῐστολή (epĭstolḗ, “letter; message”), from ἐπῐστέλλω (epĭstéllō, “to inform by, or to send, a letter or message”) (from ἐπῐ- (epĭ-, prefix meaning ‘on, upon’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi (“at; near; on”)) + στέλλω (stéllō, “to dispatch, send”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to locate; to place, put”))) + -η (-ē, suffix forming action nouns); and
* from Anglo-Norman epistle, and Middle French epistle, epistele, epistole (“letter; (Christianity) one of the letters by an apostle in the New Testament; extract from such a letter read as part of the Mass”) (modern French épître), from Latin epistola (see above).
The verb is derived from the noun.

## Easily confused with
- **episode** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/episode-vs-epistle)

## Common misspellings (10)
`eipstle`, `epislte`, `episstle`, `epistel`, `epistlle`, `episttle`, `epitsle`, `eppistle`, `epsitle`, `peistle`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/epistle