epilogue

or ep·i·log

[ep-uh-lawg, -log]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR epilogue ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a concluding part added to a literary work, as a novel.

a speech, usually in verse, delivered by one of the actors after the conclusion of a play.

the person speaking this.

Origin of epilogue

1375–1425; late Middle English epiloge < Latin epilogus < Greek epílogos peroration of a speech, equivalent to epi- epi- + lógos word

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

Related Words for epilogue

summation, postscript, coda, finale, sequel, ending, conclusion, postlude, peroration, follow-up

Examples from the Web for epilogue

Contemporary Examples of epilogue

“The Muslim community is marbled by fear and isolation,” Apuzzo and Goldman write in the epilogue.
9 Secrets of the NYPD’s Spy Unit Revealed in ‘Enemies Within’
Abby Haglage
August 29, 2013
Maybe this most recent turn of events will give the story an epilogue—and me some peace of mind.
‘The Staircase’: Director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade on Michael Peterson, Owls, and More
Jean-Xavier de Lestrade
March 4, 2013
What amounts to Breaking Dawn—Part 2 should have been a 15-minute epilogue at the end of that movie.
Why ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part 2’ Jumps the Shark
Ramin Setoodeh
November 16, 2012
Your arrival there always felt right, like the perfect last phase of your soccer career, so forget about this French epilogue.
David Beckham to Paris: Why Soccer Star Should Stay in Los Angeles
Eric Pape
December 24, 2011
But the epilogue to that story has the makings of a historic coda.
The Last Godfather
T.J. English
June 26, 2011

Historical Examples of epilogue

THE preface to a book serves the double purpose of prologue and epilogue.
A Hero of Our Time
M. Y. Lermontov
As an epilogue to all that has been said, I will suppose a case.
The Formation of Christendom, Volume VI
Thomas W. (Thomas William) Allies
The persons whom Plato ridicules in the epilogue to the Euthydemus are of this class.
Euthydemus
Plato
He had the past for his prologue, and the future for his epilogue.
The Drama Of Three Hundred & Sixty-Five Days
Hall Caine
On the whole, therefore, we may conclude that he would have considered this epilogue to be genuine also.
Cyropaedia
Xenophon

British Dictionary definitions for epilogue

epilogue

noun

a speech, usually in verse, addressed to the audience by an actor at the end of a play
the actor speaking this

a short postscript to any literary work, such as a brief description of the fates of the characters in a novel

British (esp formerly) the concluding programme of the day on a radio or television station, often having a religious content

Derived Formsepilogist (ɪˈpɪlədʒɪst), noun

Word Origin for epilogue

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

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 epilogue

early 15c., from Middle French epilogue (13c.), from Latin epilogus, from Greek epilogos "conclusion of a speech," from epi "upon, in addition" (see epi-) + logos "a speaking" (see lecture (n.)). Earliest English sense was theatrical.