epigraph

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epigraph

an inscription on a building or statue; quotation at the beginning of a book or chapter

Not to be confused with:

epigram – witticism, quip; ingenious saying tersely expressed

ep·i·graph

(ĕp′ĭ-grăf′)

1. An inscription, as on a statue or building.

2. A motto or quotation, as at the beginning of a literary composition, setting forth a theme.

[Greek epigraphē, from epigraphein, to write on; see epigram.]

ep′i·graph′ic, ep′i·graph′i·cal adj.

ep′i·graph′i·cal·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

epigraph

(ˈɛpɪˌɡrɑːf; -ˌɡræf)

1. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) a quotation at the beginning of a book, chapter, etc, suggesting its theme

2. an inscription on a monument or building

[C17: from Greek epigraphē; see epigram]

epigraphic, ˌepiˈgraphical adj

ˌepiˈgraphically adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ep•i•graph

(ˈɛp ɪˌgræf)

n.

1. an inscription, esp. on a building, statue, etc.

2. an apposite quotation at the beginning of a book, chapter, etc.

[1615–25; < Greek epigraphḗ inscription. See epi-, -graph]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	epigraph - a quotation at the beginning of some piece of writing quotation, quote, citation - a passage or expression that is quoted or cited
	2.	epigraph - an engraved inscription inscription, lettering - letters inscribed (especially words engraved or carved) on something

Translations

epigraph

[ˈepɪgrɑːf] N → epígrafe m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

epigraph

n → Epigraf nt, → Inschrift f; (at beginning of book, chapter) → Motto nt, → Sinnspruch m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

epigraph

[ˈɛpɪˌgrɑːf] n → epigrafe f

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

The count seized it hastily, his eyes immediately fell upon the epigraph, and he read, "`Thou shalt tear out the dragons' teeth, and shall trample the lions under foot, saith the Lord.'"

View in context

In his judgement, he cited the Balzac epigraph from Mario PuzoA's 1969 novel "The Godfather", which reads: "Behind every great fortune there is a crime."

Justice Asif Saeed Khosa sworn in as 26th Chief Justice of Pakistan

1968) Naoki Prize-winning Go begins with a famous epigraph from Romeo and Juliet and sets, thereby, both the scene and our expectations.

Kazuki Kaneshiro: Go

This is what Justice Khosa's dissenting note said: 'The popular 1969 novel 'The Godfather' by Mario Puzo recounted the violent tale of a Mafia family and the epigraph selected by the author was fascinating: Behind every great fortune there is a crime,' wrote Justice Khosa.

Should Shakespeare be in the courtroom?

Clough's apparent source was not a French novel but the short story of a French novelist, Arsene Houssaye--more specifically, the story as first published in a French literary journal a decade before Clough began work on Amours de voyage and two decades before Houssaye's revisions of the tale for book publication eliminated nearly all of the text on which Clough's epigraph appears to have been based.

Clough's Amours de voyage and Arsene Houssaye: An Epigraphic Mystery Solved

"The problem is to decide whether the objects of machine production can possess the essential qualities of art," wrote Herbert Read in 1934's Art and Industry, a sentence reprinted in an epigraph (one of three) in Digital Handmade (Thames & Hudson).

Digital Handmade

"There was another life I might have had, but I am having this one." The epigraph of Summerlong--a quote from Kazuo Ishiguru--is a fitting opening for this story of a disenchanted couple.

Summerlong

After this epigraph there is a smaller arch, which depicts the figures of Shapour II and his son Shapour III, and above each of these impression the personalities of epigraph have been introduced in Pahlavi Sassanid script.

Kermanshah City of Heroes

Beginning his article with the 1809 epigraph above, articulating Blake's concept of art centred on invention and visionary conception, Archer ended it in his own words: "In the best art there is an inescapable element of strangeness, the sense of a novel wonder, a mystery burning at the heart of life, and it is this strangeness, this incandescence which above all the painting of Mithila transmits."

Mithila painting: 1949-2014

The Epigraph system is in use at AM-PG and is now available to order, offering hologram resolution of up to 240,000 dpi on masters up to 30 x 30 cm, with bigger sizes in the pipeline.