isapostle means an equal of the Apostles. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 79 out of 100.
Why “isapostle” is a great word
An honorific title in Eastern Christianity for a saint whose foundational missionary work is judged to be of equal significance to that of the original Apostles. From the Ancient Greek ἰσαπόστολος (isapóstolos), from ἴσος (ísos, "equal") and ἀπόστολος (apóstolos, "apostle, messenger"). Unlike “apostle,” which denotes one of the Twelve or a primary early missionary like Paul, or “evangelist,” which focuses on the proclamation of the gospel, “isapostle” is a later, formal elevation—a declaration that the work of building the church did not cease with the first century. It is the quiet authority of a frescoed saint in a mountain monastery, the worn stone of a cathedral laid in a pagan wilderness, and the vernacular liturgy transcribed into a new tongue—a testament to a church measuring its own history, finding in certain colossal lives a symmetry so perfect it demands a name.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἰσαπόστολος (isapóstolos).
noun
- An equal of the Apostles.