From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Epistle \E*pis"tle\, noun [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.
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.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Epistle \E*pis"tle\, verb (used with an object) To write; to communicate in a letter or by writing. [Obs.] --Milton.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: especially a long, formal letter
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