|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
epitaph
epitaph strictly, an inscription on a tomb; by extension, a statement, usually in verse, commemorating the dead. The earliest such inscriptions are those found on Egyptian sarcophagi. In England epitaphs did not begin to assume a literary character until the time of Elizabeth I. Ben Jonson, John Milton, Alexander Pope, and Samuel Johnson were considered masters of the art. The epitaph on Ben Jonson's own tomb in Westminster Abbey was splendidly brief: "O rare Ben Jonson!" Epitaphs are often humorous. It is not known whether the epitaph printed below is amusing by design or by accident: Here lie I Martin Elginbrodde: Have mercy on my soul, Lord God, As I wad do, were I Lord God, And ye were Martin Elginbrodde. |
|
|
Cite this article
"epitaph." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "epitaph." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-epitaph.html "epitaph." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-epitaph.html |
|
epitaph
epitaph a phrase or form of words written in memory of a person who has died, especially as an inscription on a tombstone. The word is recorded from late Middle English, and comes via Old French and Latin from Greek epitaphion ‘funeral oration’.
|
|
|
Cite this article
ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "epitaph." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "epitaph." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-epitaph.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "epitaph." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-epitaph.html |
|
epitaph
ep·i·taph / ˈepiˌtaf/ • n. a phrase or statement written in memory of a person who has died, esp. as an inscription on a tombstone. |
|
|
Cite this article
"epitaph." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "epitaph." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-epitaph.html "epitaph." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-epitaph.html |
|
epitaph
epitaph XIV. — (O)F. épitaphe — L. epitaphium funeral oration — Gr. epitáphion, f. EPI- + táphos obsequies, tomb.
|
|
|
Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "epitaph." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "epitaph." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-epitaph.html T. F. HOAD. "epitaph." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-epitaph.html |
|
epitaph
epitaph. Inscription on a funerary monument, tombstone, etc.
|
|
|
Cite this article
JAMES STEVENS CURL. "epitaph." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAMES STEVENS CURL. "epitaph." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-epitaph.html JAMES STEVENS CURL. "epitaph." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-epitaph.html |
|
epitaph
epitaph
•barf, behalf, calf, chaff, coif, giraffe, Graf, graph, half, laugh, scarf, scrum half, staff, strafe, wing half
•headscarf • mooncalf • bar graph
•telegraph • polygraph • epigraph
•serigraph • cardiograph • radiograph
•spectrograph • micrograph
•lithograph • heliograph
•choreograph • tachograph
•stylograph • holograph • seismograph
•chronograph, monograph
•phonograph • paragraph
•cinematograph • pictograph
•autograph • photograph • flagstaff
•jackstaff • distaff • tipstaff • epitaph
•pikestaff • cenotaph
|
|
|
Cite this article
"epitaph." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "epitaph." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-epitaph.html "epitaph." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-epitaph.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
