pistle

English edit

Etymology edit

The noun is derived from Middle English pistel, pistle (“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],^[1] from Old English pistol (“letter, epistle”), an aphetic form of epistol, epistola,^[2] from Latin epistola (“letter, epistle; literary work in letter form”): see further at epistle.

The verb is derived from the noun.^[3]

cognates

Scots pistil, pistle

Pronunciation edit

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɪsl̩/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɪs(ə)l/
Rhymes: -ɪsəl
Hyphenation: pis‧tle

Noun edit

pistle (plural pistles)

(archaic or obsolete) Synonym of epistle
- 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts xv:[30], folio clxxvij, verso:
  when they were departed / they cam to Antioche and gaddred the multitude togedder and delivered the piſtle.
(obsolete) A story conveyed verbally.

Translations edit

synonym of epistle — see epistle

Verb edit

pistle (third-person singular simple present pistles, present participle pistling, simple past and past participle pistled)

(transitive, obsolete, rare) To write about (someone or something) in, or in the form of, a letter.

References edit

^ “epistel, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
^ Compare “pistle, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023.
^ “† pistle, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2023.

Anagrams edit

pliest, stipel, tiples

[1] “epistel, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

[2] Compare “pistle, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023.

[3] “† pistle, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2023.

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