epistle

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• /ɪˈpɪs.əl/
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• General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• rhymes with -ɪsəl
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• CMU ARPABET: IH0 P IH1 S AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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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.

61 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Finnish: epistola — literary composition in the form of a letter or series of letters
• Macedonian: послание (poslanie) — literary composition in the form of a letter or series of letters
• Arabic: رِسَالَة (risāla) — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Arabic: ألوكة — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܐܸܓܲܪܬܵܐ (ʾigārta) — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Armenian: նամակ (namak) — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Bulgarian: послание (poslanie) — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Catalan: epístola — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Czech: epištola — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Finnish: epistola — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• French: épître — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• French: épitre — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• German: Epistel — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Greek: επιστολή (epistolí) — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Hebrew: אִגֶּרֶת (igéret) — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Hungarian: episztola — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Italian: epistola — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Latin: epistola — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Macedonian: послание (poslanie) — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Malay: warkah — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Polish: epistoła — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Polish: list — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Portuguese: epístola — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Portuguese: carta — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Romanian: epistolă — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Romanian: epistole — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Russian: посла́ние (poslánije) — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Scottish Gaelic: litir — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Serbo-Croatian: епѝстола — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Serbo-Croatian: epìstola — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Spanish: epístola — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Swedish: epistel — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Tocharian B: parso — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Ukrainian: посла́ння (poslánnja) — letter, especially one which is formal or issued publicly — see also letter
• Finnish: kirje esipuheena — letter of dedication addressed to a patron or reader published as a preface to a literary work
• Arabic: رِسَالَة (risāla) — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܐܸܓܲܪܬܵܐ (ʾigārta) — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Breton: abostol — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Catalan: Epístola — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Czech: epištola — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Finnish: epistola — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Finnish: kirje — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• French: épître — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• French: épitre — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• German: Apostelbrief — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Greek: επιστολή (epistolí) — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Hebrew: אִגֶּרֶת (igéret) — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Hindi: पत्री (patrī) — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Hungarian: levél — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Latin: epistola — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Macedonian: послание (poslanie) — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Polish: list — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Portuguese: epístola — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Russian: посла́ние (poslánije) — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Serbo-Croatian: по̀сланица — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Serbo-Croatian: pòslanica — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Spanish: epístola — one of the books of the New Testament which was originally a letter issued by an apostle
• Finnish: epistola — extract from a New Testament epistle or book other than a gospel which is read during a church service
• Finnish: kirjoittaa kirje — (transitive) to write (something) in, or in the form of, a letter; (intransitive) to write a letter
• Finnish: kirjoittaa kirje — (transitive) to write a letter to (someone); (intransitive) to communicate with someone through a letter
• Finnish: kirjoittaa kirje esipuheeksi — (transitive) to write (something) as an introduction or preface to a literary work; to provide (a literary work) with an introduction or preface