epitaph
Americannoun
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a commemorative inscription on a tomb or mortuary monument about the person buried at that site.
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a brief poem or other writing in praise of a deceased person.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a commemorative inscription on a tombstone or monument
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a speech or written passage composed in commemoration of a dead person
-
a final judgment on a person or thing
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of epitaph
1350–1400; Middle English epitaphe < Latin epitaphium < Greek epitáphion over or at a tomb, equivalent to epi- epi- + táph ( os ) tomb + -ion noun, adj. suffix
Explanation
An epitaph is an inscription on a gravestone. Famous for his comedic jabs at the City of Brotherly Love, writer W.C. Fields once said he wanted "I'd rather be living in Philadelphia" as the epitaph on his tombstone. Once you trace this word back to its origins, you'll never forget its meaning. Forms of it show up in Middle English, Old French, Latin, and, before that, Greek: epi- "upon" and taphos "tomb." This gives us a mini history lesson on burial traditions. For thousands of years various societies have carved poetic, weepy, and witty words onto the monuments marking the final resting places of famous and infamous citizens.
Vocabulary lists containing epitaph
A Raisin in the Sun
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Bob Dylan Wins Nobel Prize in Literature
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Much Ado About Nothing
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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.
See Examples For:
When the cartographer James Cheshire stumbled into the room in University College London several years ago, he encountered less a resource for mapping the modern globe than “an epitaph of a world we once knew.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
If this ends up being Cronenberg’s last, he’ll have gone out with a worldly, weighty epitaph.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2025
It was his epitaph, and I think it sums up the whole quest for happiness.
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2025
On the headstone marking his grave, the epitaph simply read “The Butler.”
From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2024
It was an epitaph that could have been written for Finch, except that I’ve written one for him myself: Theodore Finch—I was alive.
From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven
The more I sit with Ruscha’s epitaphs, the less unexpected his love for plants becomes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2024
Even on a chilly day, visitors were weaving through tree-lined pathways to take in epitaphs from artists, philosophers and beloved residents.
From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2024
The epitaphs have been quick in coming; Maureen Dowd's recent column in the New York times may serve as representative of the conventional wisdom.
From Salon ● May 20, 2023
Social media erupted with epitaphs to the tiny cub.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2023
It was impossible, of course, to ignore the crosses, and each morning Jerry G. and Horsethief Shorty, occasionally aided by Bernabe Montoya and the state cops, had to uproot a dozen epitaphs.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
