ἐπιστολή

See also: επιστολή

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From ἐπιστέλλω (epistéllō, “to send a message”) +‎ -η (-ē).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /e.pis.to.lɛ̌ː/ → /e.pis.toˈli/ → /e.pis.toˈli/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /e.pis.to.lɛ̌ː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /e.pis.toˈle̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /e.pis.toˈli/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /e.pis.toˈli/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /e.pis.toˈli/

Noun

ἐπῐστολή • (epistolḗ) f (genitive ἐπῐστολῆς); first declension

1. message, letter
2. command, commission, injunction
3. dying command, will (legal document)

Declension

First declension of ἡ ἐπῐστολή; τῆς ἐπῐστολῆς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ἐπῐστολή hē epistolḗ	τὼ ἐπῐστολᾱ́ tṑ epistolā́	αἱ ἐπῐστολαί hai epistolaí
Genitive	τῆς ἐπῐστολῆς tês epistolês	τοῖν ἐπῐστολαῖν toîn epistolaîn	τῶν ἐπῐστολῶν tôn epistolôn
Dative	τῇ ἐπῐστολῇ têi epistolêi	τοῖν ἐπῐστολαῖν toîn epistolaîn	ταῖς ἐπῐστολαῖς taîs epistolaîs
Accusative	τὴν ἐπῐστολήν tḕn epistolḗn	τὼ ἐπῐστολᾱ́ tṑ epistolā́	τᾱ̀ς ἐπῐστολᾱ́ς tā̀s epistolā́s
Vocative	ἐπῐστολή epistolḗ	ἐπῐστολᾱ́ epistolā́	ἐπῐστολαί epistolaí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → Coptic: ⲉⲡⲓⲥⲧⲟⲗⲏ (epistolē)
• → Gothic: 𐌰𐌹𐍀𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌿𐌻𐌴 (aipistaulē)
• Greek: επιστολή (epistolí)
• → Latin: epistola, epistula
  • Catalan: epístola
    • English: epistle
  • German: Epistel
  • Galician: epístola
  • Italian: epistola
  • Old French: epistre, epistle
    • → English: epistle
    • French: épître
  • Portuguese: epístola
  • Romanian: epistolă
  • Spanish: epístola
  • Walloon: episse
  • → French: épistule, épistole
  • → Middle English: epistel, epistle (also via Old French)
  • → Old English: pistol
    • Middle English: pistel, pistle
      • English: pistle
      • Scots: pistil, pistle

Further reading

• “ἐπιστολή”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἐπιστολή”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἐπιστολή in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• G1992 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • despatch idem, page 216.
  • epistle idem, page 279.
  • letter idem, page 486.
  • missive idem, page 535.
  • note idem, page 562.
  • petition idem, page 609.