əˈpäsəl also -ȯs- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English apostle, apostel, from Old French & Old English; Old French apostle & Old English apostol, from Late Latin apostolus, from Greek apostolos, literally, messenger, from apostellein to send away, from apo- + stellein to send — more at stall
1.
a. : one who is sent forth : messenger ; specifically : one of the 12 disciples of Christ
b. : one of certain early Christian missionaries (as Paul and Barnabas) or in Eastern orthodoxy one of the 70 disciples of Jesus
2.
a. : the first or the first prominent Christian missionary in any part of the world : one who has extraordinary success as a missionary or reformer
St. Boniface, apostle to Germany
b. : one who initiates a great moral reform or first advocates any important belief or system
3. : the highest ecclesiastical official in some church organizations (as in the Church of God in Christ and in the New Apostolic Church of No. America)
4. apostles , plural , civil & admiralty law : a brief letter dimissory sent by a court appealed from to the superior court, stating the case : papers sent up on appeal, equivalent to the record in a case at law
5. : one of a council or quorum of 12 men in the Mormon Church acting principally as administrators
6. apostles , plural : bollards and bitts in a sailing ship