epigraph

[ep-i-graf, -grahf]

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noun

an inscription, especially on a building, statue, or the like.

an apposite quotation at the beginning of a book, chapter, etc.

Origin of epigraph

First recorded in 1615–25, epigraph is from the Greek word epigraphḗ inscription. See epi-, -graph

Can be confusedepigram epigraph epitaph epithet

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for epigraph

eulogy, elegy, inscription, head, code, underline, device, cipher, rubric, key, table, motto, heading, epitaph, epigraph, memorial, sentiment, legend, monument, remembrance

Examples from the Web for epigraph

Contemporary Examples of epigraph

Richie Havens, 72 Who opened Woodstock, and thus became the epigraph to the ultimate document of the 1960s?
The Deaths You Missed This Year
Malcolm Jones, Jimmy So, Michael Moynihan, Caitlin Dickson
December 30, 2013
The author quotes Shelby Foote for the epigraph: “Southerners are very strange about that war.”
The Best Civil War Books
Malcolm Jones
April 15, 2011
But the presidential narrator—and perhaps Giscard himself—reply in the epigraph: “Promise kept.”
The Princess and the President
Eric Pape
September 23, 2009

Historical Examples of epigraph

In the same chapel is shown an arm of Titus Livius, with this epigraph.
The Diary of John Evelyn (Vol 1 of 2)
John Evelyn
This aphorism might serve as an epigraph to Tristrem Varick.
Eden
Edgar Saltus
That of the long poem afterwards called Anactoria has neither a title nor the Greek epigraph from Sappho.
Aspects and Impressions
Edmund Gosse
It bears this Epigraph, "Ecce Ego admirationem faciam populo huic, miraculo grandi et stupendo."
Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1 (of 3)
Isaac D'Israeli
The head is well cut; the features have individuality and expression; the epigraph is sufficiently legible.
The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 7. (of 7): The Sassanian or New Persian Empire
George Rawlinson

British Dictionary definitions for epigraph

epigraph

noun

a quotation at the beginning of a book, chapter, etc, suggesting its theme

an inscription on a monument or building

Derived Formsepigraphic (ˌɛpɪˈɡræfɪk) or epigraphical, adjectiveepigraphically, adverb

Word Origin for epigraph

C17: from Greek epigraphē; see epigram

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for epigraph

1620s, "inscription on a building, statue, etc.," from Greek epigraphe "an inscription," from epigraphein "to write on," from epi "on" (see epi-) + graphein "to write" (see -graphy). Sense of "motto; short, pithy sentence at the head of a book or chapter" first recorded in English 1844.