Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Epitaph?

\Ep"i*taph\, n. [F. ['e]pitaphe, L. epitaphium a funeral oration, fr. Gr. ?, orig. an adj., over or at a tomb; 'epi` upon + ? tomb. Cf. {Cenotaph}.] 1. An inscription on, or at, a tomb, or a grave, in memory or commendation of the one buried there; a sepulchral inscription. Hang her an epitaph upon her tomb. --Shak. 2. A brief writing formed as if to be inscribed on a monument, as that concerning Alexander: ``Sufficit huic tumulus, cui non sufficeret orbis.''
\Ep"i*taph\, v. t. To commemorate by an epitaph. [R.] Let me be epitaphed the inventor of English hexameters. --G. Harvey.
\Ep"i*taph\, v. i. To write or speak after the manner of an epitaph. [R.] The common in their speeches epitaph upon him . . . ``He lived as a wolf and died as a dog.'' --Bp. Hall.