Epistle

An epistle (pronounced [ɪˈpɪsəl]) (Greek: επιστολη, epistolē, "letter") is a writing sent to a person or group of people. It is often a written as a letter.

Today, different kinds of epistles are known:

• The epistles of an apostle to a community of Christians, as they can be found in the New Testament are generally known as epistles. Amongst the best known of these are the Pauline epistles.
• The epistles of Cicero, and of Pliny the Younger tell a lot about life at the time of the Romans. Ovid produced a number of letters while he was in exile at coast of the Black Sea, Seneca's letters influenced many epistle-writers of later times.
• Sometimes, the parts of the Bible that are read during liturgy are referred to as epistles.
• A novel that is mainly written in the form of an exchange of letters is known as epistolary novel