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
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a final judgment on a person or thing
Other Word Forms
- epitaphic adjective
- epitaphist noun
- epitaphless adjective
- unepitaphed adjective
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
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.
If we were to assign his TV father an epitaph, he could do a lot worse than the unvarnished speech that closes the first season.
From Salon • Jul. 24, 2025
In words he shared with teenagers, Prefontaine wrote his own best epitaph: “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 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
I wonder who and how as I pick pick pick and try to silence my brain by thinking up Embryo’s epitaph.
From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven
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.
