\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. ['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.

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