English Explanatory Dictionary

epitaph

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An inscription on a gravestone in memory of the deceased.
  2. A poem or other short text written in memory of a deceased person.
verb
  1. To write or speak after the manner of an epitaph.
  2. To commemorate by an epitaph.

Pronunciation

/ˈɛp.ɪˌtɑːf/ /ˈɛp.ɪˌtæf/ en-us-epitaph.ogg

Word forms

epitaph epitaphs epitaphing epitaphed

Etymology

From Old French epitafe, from Late Latin epitaphium (“eulogy”), from Ancient Greek ἐπιτάφιος (epitáphios, “relating to a funeral”), from ἐπί (epí, “over”) + τάφος (táphos, “tomb”). By surface analysis epi- + -taph.

Related words

elegy eulogy obituary epigraph hic jacet

Derived words

epitapher epitaphian epitaphic epitaphist epitaphize epitaphless epitaphology epitaphy
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on E Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary