What does epitome mean?

Definitions for epitome
ɪˈpɪt ə miepit·o·me

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word epitome.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. prototype, paradigm, epitome, imagenoun

    a standard or typical example

    "he is the prototype of good breeding"; "he provided America with an image of the good father"

  2. epitomenoun

    a brief abstract (as of an article or book)

GCIDE

  1. Epitomenoun

    A compact or condensed representation of anything; something possessing conspicuously or to a high degree the qualities of a class.

Wiktionary

  1. epitomenoun

    The embodiment or encapsulation of.

  2. epitomenoun

    A representative example.

  3. epitomenoun

    The height; the best.

  4. epitomenoun

    A brief summary.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. EPITOMEnoun

    Abridgment; abbreviature; compendious abstract; compendium.

    Etymology: ἐπιτομὴ.

    This is a poor epitome of your’s,
    Which, by th’ interpretation of full time,
    May shew like all yourself. William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

    Epitomes are helpful to the memory, and of good private use; but set forth for publick monuments, accuse the industrious writers of delivering much impertinency. Henry Wotton.

    I think it would be well, if there were a short and plain epitome made, containing the chief and most material heads. John Locke, on Education.

    Such abstracts and epitomes may be reviewed in their proper places. Isaac Watts, Improvement of the Mind.

Wikipedia

  1. Epitome

    An epitome (; Greek: ἐπιτομή, from ἐπιτέμνειν epitemnein meaning "to cut short") is a summary or miniature form, or an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment. Epitomacy represents "to the degree of." An abridgment differs from an epitome in that an abridgment is made of selected quotations of a larger work; no new writing is composed, as opposed to the epitome, which is an original summation of a work, at least in part. Many documents from the Ancient Greek and Roman worlds survive now only "in epitome," referring to the practice of some later authors (epitomators) who wrote distilled versions of larger works now lost. Some writers attempted to convey the stance and spirit of the original, while others added further details or anecdotes regarding the general subject. As with all secondary historical sources, a different bias not present in the original may creep in. Documents surviving in epitome differ from those surviving only as fragments quoted in later works and those used as unacknowledged sources by later scholars, as they can stand as discrete documents but refracted through the views of another author. Epitomes of a kind are still produced today when dealing with a corpus of literature, especially classical works often considered dense, unwieldy and unlikely to be read by the average person, to make them more accessible: some are more along the lines of abridgments, such as many which have been written of Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a work of six large volumes (about 3600 pages) often published as one volume of about 1400 pages. Some are of the same type as the ancient epitome, such as various epitomes of the Summa Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas, originally written as an introductory textbook in theology and now accessible to very few except for the learned in theology and Aristotelian philosophy, such as A Summa of the Summa and A Shorter Summa. Many epitomes today are published under the general title "The Companion to ...", such as The Oxford Companion to Aristotle, or "An Overview of ...", or "guides," such as An Overview of the Thought of Immanuel Kant, How to Read Hans Urs von Balthasar, or, in some cases, as an introduction, in the cases of An Introduction to Søren Kierkegaard or A Very Short Introduction to the New Testament (many philosophical "introductions" and "guides" share the epitomic form, unlike general "introductions" to a field).

ChatGPT

  1. epitome

    An epitome is a person or thing that is a perfect example or representation of a particular quality, concept, or type. It's a standard or ideal example embodying the very best of a certain characteristic or attribute. It can also refer to a summary or brief representation of something.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Epitomenoun

    a work in which the contents of a former work are reduced within a smaller space by curtailment and condensation; a brief summary; an abridgement

  2. Epitomenoun

    a compact or condensed representation of anything

  3. Etymology: [L., fr. Gr. a surface incision, also, and abridgment, fr. to cut into, cut short; 'epi` upon + te`mnein to cut: cf. F. pitome. See Tome.]

Wikidata

  1. Epitome

    An epitome is a summary or miniature form; an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment. Epitomacy represents, "to the degree of." Many documents from the Ancient Greek and Roman worlds survive now only "in epitome", referring to the practice of some later authors who wrote distilled versions of larger works now lost. Some writers attempted to convey the stance and spirit of the original, while others added further details or anecdotes regarding the general subject. As with all secondary historical sources, a different bias not present in the original may creep in. Documents surviving in epitome differ from those surviving only as fragments quoted in later works, and those used as unacknowledged sources by later scholars, as they can stand as discrete documents, albeit refracted through the views of another author. Epitomes of a kind are still produced today, when dealing with a corpus of literature, especially those classical works which are often considered dense and unwieldy, and unlikely to be read by the average person, in order to make them more accessible: some of these are more along the lines of abridgments, such as many which have been written of Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a work of eight large volumes, often published as one volume of about 1200 pages.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Epitome

    e-pit′o-me, n. an abridgment or short summary of anything, as of a book.—adj. Epitom′ical, like an epitome.—v.t. Epit′omise, to make an epitome of: to shorten: to condense.—ns. Epit′omiser, Epit′omist, one who abridges.—In epitome, on a small scale. [Gr.,—epi, temnein, to cut.]

Suggested Resources

  1. epitome

    Song lyrics by epitome -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by epitome on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce epitome?

How to say epitome in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of epitome in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of epitome in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of epitome in a Sentence

  1. Harris Faulkner:

    They are the epitome of Squad goals. Thanks guys.To the organizers of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association, I want to thank you for recognizing my work and the way that I do the work. Because, the work itself is something that we're all doing. But the specificity that each one of us brings from our upbringing, failures, victories and values is the potent mix that makes us compelling and memorable voices in media, thank you for adding me to MMCA’s list of those getting it done.

  2. Karim Sadjadpour:

    They are the epitome of frenemies.

  3. Jon Stewart:

    You're tenacity personified and the way you've carried the banner for your family and your loved ones and in their pain, that's the thing, you know. Advocating for causes is a very it's a lovely thing to do but to do that in your grief when you know that it's not going to help your loved one, But that's not what matters to you. It’s that no one goes through what you went through. And that's just the epitome of grace.

  4. Kerry Washington:

    We became the epitome of ‘black lives matter,’.

  5. Sand Hill Principal Carla Meigs:

    We just wanted to find a way to honor Annie Julia Lockett, annie Julia Lockett's a role model for the students. Annie Julia Lockett is the epitome of a hard-working human being who has been put on this earth to serve others.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

epitome#10000#41715#100000

Translations for epitome

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for epitome »

Translation

Find a translation for the epitome definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"epitome." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Dec. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/epitome>.

Discuss these epitome definitions with the community:

0 Comments

    Are we missing a good definition for epitome? Don't keep it to yourself...

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a words master?

    »
    a levy of one tenth of something
    A tithe
    B squint-eye
    C instigation
    D calcaneus

    Nearby & related entries:

    Alternative searches for epitome: