epigraph
Americannoun
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an inscription, especially on a building, statue, or the like.
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an apposite quotation at the beginning of a book, chapter, etc.
noun
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a quotation at the beginning of a book, chapter, etc, suggesting its theme
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an inscription on a monument or building
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of epigraph
First recorded in 1615–25, epigraph is from the Greek word epigraphḗ inscription. See epi-, -graph
Explanation
An epigraph is an engraved inscription on a building or statue, or a quotation at the beginning of a piece of writing. If you look on the U.S. government minted coins in your pocket, you'll see the epigraph "In God We Trust." Epigraph comes from the Greek roots epi- ("on") and graphein ("write"), a root you'll recognize from autograph, graphite, graphic novel, and lots of other familiar words that have to do with writing or drawing.
Vocabulary lists containing epigraph
Write On!: Graph and Gram
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Rhetoric
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Reading: Literature - Literary Devices & Figures of Speech - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Or, as Silvina Ocampo put it, in a quotation selected by Ms. Schweblin as her epigraph: “Strange is always truer.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025
Kehlmann’s epigraph, from the Austrian Nazi writer Heimito von Doderer’s 1966 short story collection “Under Black Stars,” describes “drifting along on a broad wave of absurdity, although we knew and saw it.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2025
It is as Caro says in the book’s epigraph: “One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day has been.”
From Slate • Sep. 16, 2024
I use John Pesando’s remark as the epigraph, “Every whistleblower is an amateur playing against professionals.”
From Salon • Jun. 20, 2024
I open to the epigraph, a quote by Wendell Berry: "In the circle of the human we are weary with striving, and are without rest."
From "We Are Okay" by Nina LaCour
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
