Old English apostol "messenger," especially the twelve witnesses sent forth by Jesus to preach his Gospel (Luke vi.13), from Late Latin apostolus, from Greek apostolos "messenger, envoy," literally "person sent forth," from apostellein "send away, send forth," from apo "off, away from" (see apo-) + stellein in its secondary sense of "to send," from PIE *stel-yo-, suffixed form of root *stel- "to put, stand, put in order," with derivatives referring to a standing object or place. Compare epistle.
The current form of the word, predominant since 16c., is influenced by Old French apostle (12c., Modern French apôtre), from the same Late Latin source. Meaning "missionary who brings Christianity to a new region or people" is from early 15c. Figurative sense of "chief advocate of a new principle or system" is from 1810. The New Testament book title Apostles (c. 1400) is short for "The Acts and Epistles of the Apostles."
It forms all or part of: ab-; abaft; ablaut; aft; after; apanthropy; aperitif; aperture; apo-; apocalypse; apocryphal; Apollyon; apology; apoplexy; apostle; apostrophe; apothecary; apotheosis; awk; awkward; ebb; eftsoons; of; off; offal; overt.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit apa "away from," Avestan apa "away from," Greek apo "from, away from; after; in descent from," Latin ab "away from, from," Gothic af, Old English of "away from."
Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to put, stand, put in order," with derivatives referring to a standing object or place.
It forms all or part of: apostle; catastaltic; diastole; epistle; forestall; Gestalt; install; installment; pedestal; peristalsis; peristaltic; stale (adj.); stalk (n.); stall (n.1) "place in a stable for animals;" stall (n.2) "pretense to avoid doing something;" stall (v.1) "come to a stop, become stuck;" stallage; stallion; stele; stell; still (adj.); stilt; stole (n.); stolid; stolon; stout; stultify; systaltic; systole.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Greek stellein "to put in order, make ready; equip or dress with weapons, clothes, etc.; prepare (for a journey), dispatch; to furl (sails);" Armenian stełc-anem "to prepare, create;" Albanian shtiell "to wind up, reel up, collect;" Old Church Slavonic po-steljo "I spread;" Old Prussian stallit "to stand;" Old English steall "standing place, stable," Old High German stellen "to set, place."
"a letter, a communication," Old English pistol, a shortening of epistol, from Latin epistola (see epistle). Compare postle from apostle.
"pertaining to the apostle Paul or his doctrines," 1817, from Latin Paulinus, from Paulus (see Paul). Paulines as the name of an order of friars is from late 14c.
