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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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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.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Epigram
Ep"i*gram\, n. [L. epigramma, fr. Gr. ? inscription, epigram, fr. ? to write upon, 'epi` upon + ? to write: cf. F. ['e]pigramme. See Graphic.]1. A short poem treating concisely and pointedly of a single thought or event. The modern epigram is so contrived as to surprise the reader with a witticism or ingenious turn of thought, and is often satirical in character. Dost thou think I care for a satire or an epigram? --Shak. Note: Epigrams were originally inscription on tombs, statues, temples, triumphal arches, etc. 2. An effusion of wit; a bright thought tersely and sharply expressed, whether in verse or prose. 3. The style of the epigram. Antithesis, i. e., bilateral stroke, is the soul of epigram in its later and technical signification. --B. Cracroft.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : epigram
Spanish:
lema,
German:
der Spruch,
Japanese:
つじうら
epigram
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.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
epigram
1538, from Fr. épigramme, from L. epigramma, from Gk. epigramma "an inscription, epitaph, epigram," from epigraphein "to write on, inscribe" (see epigraph).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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ɪˌgræm