Definitions for epitomeɪˈpɪt ə mi

This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word epitome

Random House Webster's College Dictionary

e•pit•o•meɪˈpɪt ə mi(n.)

  1. a person or thing that is typical of or possesses to a high degree the features of a whole class; embodiment:

    She is the epitome of kindness.

  2. a condensed account, as of a literary work; abstract.

Origin of epitome:

1520–30; < L epitomē abridgment < Gk epitomḗ abridgment, surface incision. See epi -, -tome

ep•i•tom•i•calˌɛp ɪˈtɒm ɪ kəl(adj.)ep`i•tom′ic

Princeton's WordNet

  1. prototype, paradigm, epitome, image(noun)

    a standard or typical example


  2. epitome(noun)

    a brief abstract (as of an article or book)

Kernerman English Learner's Dictionary

  1. epitome(noun)ɪˈpɪt ə mi

    the best example of a particular type of thing

    The club was the epitome of glamor in those days.


  1. epitome(Noun)

    The embodiment or encapsulation of.

  2. epitome(Noun)

    A representative example.

  3. epitome(Noun)

    The height; the best.

  4. epitome(Noun)

    A brief summary.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Epitome(noun)


  2. Epitome(noun)

    a compact or condensed representation of anything


  1. Epitome

    An epitome is a summary or miniature form; an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment. Epitomacy represents, "to the degree of." Many documents from the Ancient Greek and Roman worlds survive now only "in epitome", referring to the practice of some later authors who wrote distilled versions of larger works now lost. Some writers attempted to convey the stance and spirit of the original, while others added further details or anecdotes regarding the general subject. As with all secondary historical sources, a different bias not present in the original may creep in. Documents surviving in epitome differ from those surviving only as fragments quoted in later works, and those used as unacknowledged sources by later scholars, as they can stand as discrete documents, albeit refracted through the views of another author. Epitomes of a kind are still produced today, when dealing with a corpus of literature, especially those classical works which are often considered dense and unwieldy, and unlikely to be read by the average person, in order to make them more accessible: some of these are more along the lines of abridgments, such as many which have been written of Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a work of eight large volumes, often published as one volume of about 1200 pages.


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