epigraphy

American  

[ih-pig-ruh-fee] / ɪˈpɪg rə fi /

noun

1. the study or science of epigraphs or inscriptions, especially of ancient inscriptions.

2. inscriptions collectively.

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epigraphy British  

/ ɪˈpɪɡrəfɪ /

noun

1. the study of ancient inscriptions

2. epigraphs collectively

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Other Word Forms

• epigrapher noun
• epigraphist noun

Etymology

Origin of epigraphy

First recorded in 1850–55; epigraph + -y ³

Example Sentences

What’s needed, says Champion, is a multidisciplinary study of the stone that uses new advances in chemical analysis, epigraphy, and the study of rock-cut Elizabethan inscriptions to produce fresh data.

From National Geographic • May 29, 2018

Three years later, Professor Margherita Guarducci, who teaches Greek epigraphy and antiquities at the University of Rome, began studying the inscriptions on a red plaster wall inside which the skeletal remains had been found.

From Time Magazine Archive

You get this real warped view of what Maya politics and Classic society look like if you just use epigraphy.

From Time Magazine Archive

Its most egregious epigraphy comes before the climactic scene.

From Time Magazine Archive

Pre-Moslem epigraphy of Persia is yet in little more than an inchoate condition.

From Iranian Influence on Moslem Literature, Part I by Nariman, G. K. (Gushtaspshah Kaikhushro)