epilogue

[ ep-uh-lawg, -log ]

noun

1. a usually short section appended to the conclusion of a book or film: Compare prologue ( def 1 ).

   The novel ends rather grimly, but the epilogue reveals that most of the characters go on to find fulfillment.

2. a later event that illuminates or reinforces the significance of an earlier set of events:

   The sad life of Tasso, the last great poet of the Italian Renaissance, was a fitting epilogue to the age, whose genius also declined into decadence.

3. a speech, usually in verse, delivered by one of the actors after the conclusion of a play. Compare prologue ( def 2 ).
4. the actor who delivers a play’s epilogue. Compare prologue ( def 3 ).

epilogue

/ ˈɛpɪˌlɒɡ; ɪˈpɪlədʒɪst /

noun

1. 1. a speech, usually in verse, addressed to the audience by an actor at the end of a play
   2. the actor speaking this
2. a short postscript to any literary work, such as a brief description of the fates of the characters in a novel
3. (esp formerly) the concluding programme of the day on a radio or television station, often having a religious content

Derived Forms

• epilogist, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of epilogue¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English epiloge, from Latin epilogus, from Greek epílogos “conclusion of a speech,” equivalent to epi- epi- + lógos “word”

Word History and Origins

Origin of epilogue¹

C15: from Latin epilogus, from Greek epilogos, from logos word, speech

Example Sentences

In the epilogue, Boehner flatly states that he is glad to be out of elective politics given the party’s sharp distancing from its onetime heroes.

From Washington Post

The epilogue of the book I mentioned earlier, Lights Out, is titled “Jeff Is a Friend.”

From Freakonomics

Then, an epilogue reveals that it’s unclear whether Spears herself received the requests for her participation.

From Washington Post

By the epilogue they are ferrying high-profile figures like Prince Albert of Monaco to the bottom of the Mediterranean with a matter-of-factness that would have seemed highly improbable, if not entirely impossible, just 10 chapters earlier.

From Washington Post

My departure to true freedom, just seven months ago, has coincided with the epilogue of the presidential election in the United States, in which I still do not have the right to participate.

From Washington Blade

“The Muslim community is marbled by fear and isolation,” Apuzzo and Goldman write in the epilogue.

From The Daily Beast

Maybe this most recent turn of events will give the story an epilogue—and me some peace of mind.

From The Daily Beast

What amounts to Breaking Dawn—Part 2 should have been a 15-minute epilogue at the end of that movie.

From The Daily Beast

It will also have a new epilogue written by my spouse, Deirdre, who is the one person readers are most curious about.

From The Daily Beast

Your arrival there always felt right, like the perfect last phase of your soccer career, so forget about this French epilogue.

From The Daily Beast

May this new edition help in the fulfillment of the great purpose which the Gospel epilogue expresses.

From Project Gutenberg

The little girle is come to act very prettily, and spoke the epilogue most admirably.

From Project Gutenberg

His introduction (‘An Apologue for an Epilogue’) is full of such outrageous nonsense as to suggest suspicion of his sanity.

From Project Gutenberg

The epilogue contains an unmeasured invective against these three "vassal slaves of servile Rome."

From Project Gutenberg

The epilogue as a literary species is almost entirely confined to England, and it does not occur in the earliest English plays.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• afterword
• coda
• postscript
• summation