epitaph

English

Etymology

Old French epitafe, from Latin epitaphium (“eulogy”), from Ancient Greek ἐπιτάφιος (epitáphios, “relating to a funeral”), from ἐπί (epí, “over”) + τάφος (táphos, “tomb”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɛp.ɪˌtɑːf/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɛp.ɪˌtæf/

  • Audio (US)

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Noun

epitaph (plural epitaphs)

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.

Translations

Verb

epitaph (third-person singular simple present epitaphs, present participle epitaphing, simple past and past participle epitaphed)

1. (intransitive) To write or speak after the manner of an epitaph.
   • 1606, Joseph Hall, Heaven upon Earth:

     The Commons in their speeches epitaph upon him […] "He lived as a wolf and died as a dog."

2. (transitive) To commemorate by an epitaph.
   • 1592, Gabriel Harvey, Foure Letters and certaine Sonnets:

     Let me rather be epitaphed the inventor of the English Hexameter.

See also

• eulogy – oration about the dead, often at funeral
• obituary – published writing on the dead
• epigraph – quote on a tombstone
• hic jacet