epilogue

American  

[ep-uh-lawg, -log] / ˈɛp əˌlɔg, -ˌlɒg /

Rarely epilog

noun

epilogues plural

1. a usually short section appended to the conclusion of a book or film.

   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.

4. the actor who delivers a play’s epilogue.

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epilogue British  

/ ɪˈpɪlədʒɪst, ˈɛpɪˌlɒɡ /

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• epilogist
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• epilogues
  plural

Etymology

Origin of epilogue

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”

Explanation

If you like to read the end of a book first, then maybe the epilogue is for you. The epilogue is a short piece that wraps up the end of a story. The noun epilogue can also refer to the short speech at the end of a play that one of the characters speaks directly to the audience. In Shakespeare's play The Tempest, the epilogue is a 20-line monologue spoken by Prospero. Epilogue comes from the Greek word epilogus meaning the conclusion of a speech.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

epilogue epilogues

For his staging of the music from Prokofiev’s epilogue, Mr. Millepied makes much of the fluorescent light tubes that are part of Mr. Couture’s design.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026

And you can expect more such details to surface as we finally get the Succession epilogue its fans have pined for, with a Tom Wambsgans type in charge.

From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2026

The epilogue takes us 18 months into the future after the Upside Down is demolished and Vecna – and the Mind Flayer – is defeated.

From BBC ● Jan. 1, 2026

The arresting arrival of spiritual transformation arrives in the epilogue.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2025

For the epilogue, he writes a poem, modeled after one of Okeoma’s poems.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

There are eight books in the series, plus a book of epilogues with a short story called “The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After.”

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 6, 2022

But this one isn’t quite up to the standards established by the Police Squad! epilogues, not least because Saturday Night Live didn’t bother to dress a chimpanzee up in a suit and tie:

From Slate ● Dec. 8, 2019

Amid all the suffering and violence, you’ll often find the rest of us in the footnotes, the appendices, and the epilogues.

From The New Yorker ● Jul. 22, 2019

The show's double epilogues from last season's finale -- one introducing Elsa and one reintroducing the Magic Mirror and a revenge-minded Regina -- seem to have outlined the coming season.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2014

The remaining two volumes consist of miscellaneous prologues, epilogues, and witty pieces of verse, and of miscellaneous prose-writings, original and translated, including the critical Essay on Dramatic Poetry.

From The Three Devils: Luther's, Milton's, and Goethe's With Other Essays by Masson, David

Related Words

• afterword
• coda
• postscript
• summation