[ep-i-gram] 
| 1. | any witty, ingenious, or pointed saying tersely expressed. |
| 2. | epigrammatic expression: Oscar Wilde had a genius for epigram. |
| 3. | a short, often satirical poem dealing concisely with a single subject and usually ending with a witty or ingenious turn of thought. |
| ep·i·gram (ěp'ĭ-grām') n.
[Middle English, from Old French epigramme, from Latin epigramma, from Greek, from epigraphein, to mark the surface, inscribe : epi-, epi- + graphein, to write; see gerbh- in Indo-European roots.] |
Any pithy, witty saying or short poem. An aphorism can serve as an epigram, if it is brief.
Note: Several authors are noted for their epigrams, including Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde. One of Wilde's epigrams is “I can resist everything except temptation.”
Note: Two other words are similar: an epigraph is usually an inscription, as on a statue; an epitaph can be such an inscription or it can be a brief literary note commemorating a dead person.
ɪˌgræm
