epi-, on, toward.-epistleは、stand、stall、apostleと語源的には同じである。 もともとはメッセージ、書簡であり、後に特にキリストの弟子の書簡となる。
英語の語源
epistle
epistle: [14] Epistle has never really caught on in English as a general term for a ‘letter’ – too highfalutin – but in fact from a semantic point of view its origins are quite simple. It comes ultimately from Greek epistolé, which meant ‘something sent to someone’. This was a derivative of epistéllein, a compound verb formed from the prefix epí- ‘to’ and stellein ‘send’ (as in apostle, literally ‘someone sent out’).
English actually acquired the word for the first time during the Anglo-Saxon period, directly from Latin epistola, and it survived into the 16th century in the reduced form pistle. In the 14th century, however, it was reborrowed, via Old French, as epistle. => apostle
epistle (n.)
partly from Old English epistol and in part directly from Old French epistle, epistre (Modern French épitre), from Latin epistola "a letter," from Greek epistole "message, letter, command, commission," whether verbal or in writing, from epistellein "send to, send as a message or letter," from epi "to" (see epi-) + stellein in its secondary sense of "to dispatch, send" from PIE *stel-yo-, suffixed form of root *stel- "to put, stand," with derivatives referring to a standing object or place (see stall (n.1)). Also acquired in Old English directly from Latin as pistol. Specific sense of "letter from an apostle forming part of canonical scripture" is c. 1200.
例文
1. He longed to put a little affection into his epistle .
彼は手紙に少し恋心を表したいと思っている。
2.A reference to "natural law "can be found in the Epistle of Paul to the Romans.
サンパウロからローマ人への使徒書簡では、「自然法」が論じられている。
3.The epistle deals therefore with the sovereign and universal principles.
この手紙は至尊の、最大の原則を述べている。
4.I Tertius，who wrote this epistle ，salute you in the Lord.
22私のこの代筆の手紙の徳を、主の中であなた方に聞いてみましょう。
5.I，Tertius，who write this epistle ，greet you in the Lord.