pistle

The story

1. Latin · derived fromepistola“letter, epistle; literary work in letter form”
2. Old English · inherited frompistol“letter, epistle”
3. Middle English · inherited frompistel
4. English todaypistle

The noun is derived from Middle English pistel, pistle (“letter; epistle”) [and other forms], from Old English pistol (“letter, epistle”), an aphetic form of epistol, epistola, from Latin epistola (“letter, epistle; literary work in letter form”): see further at epistle. The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates Scots pistil, pistle

Words from the same roots