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epigrams - 2 dictionary results

ep⋅i⋅gram

  [ep-i-gram]
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–noun
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.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME < L epigramma < Gk epígramma inscription, epigram. See epi-, -gram 1

Synonyms:
1. witticism, quip, bon mot.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ep·i·gram   (ěp'ĭ-grām')   
n.  
  1. A short, witty poem expressing a single thought or observation.
  2. A concise, clever, often paradoxical statement. See Synonyms at saying.
  3. Epigrammatic discourse or expression.

[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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