Definitions for epitome
ɪˈpɪt ə miepit·o·me

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:4.0 / 2 votes

1. prototype, paradigm, epitome, imagenoun

   a standard or typical example

   "he is the prototype of good breeding"; "he provided America with an image of the good father"

2. epitomenoun

   a brief abstract (as of an article or book)

GCIDERate this definition:1.5 / 2 votes

1. Epitomenoun

   A compact or condensed representation of anything; something possessing conspicuously or to a high degree the qualities of a class.

WiktionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. epitomenoun

   The embodiment or encapsulation of.

2. epitomenoun

   A representative example.

3. epitomenoun

   The height; the best.

4. epitomenoun

   A brief summary.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. EPITOMEnoun

   Abridgment; abbreviature; compendious abstract; compendium.

   Etymology: ἐπιτομὴ.

   This is a poor epitome of your’s,
   Which, by th’ interpretation of full time,
   May shew like all yourself. William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

   Epitomes are helpful to the memory, and of good private use; but set forth for publick monuments, accuse the industrious writers of delivering much impertinency. Henry Wotton.

   I think it would be well, if there were a short and plain epitome made, containing the chief and most material heads. John Locke, on Education.

   Such abstracts and epitomes may be reviewed in their proper places. Isaac Watts, Improvement of the Mind.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Epitome

   An epitome (; Greek: ἐπιτομή, from ἐπιτέμνειν epitemnein meaning "to cut short") is a summary or miniature form, or an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment. Epitomacy represents "to the degree of." An abridgment differs from an epitome in that an abridgment is made of selected quotations of a larger work; no new writing is composed, as opposed to the epitome, which is an original summation of a work, at least in part. Many documents from the Ancient Greek and Roman worlds survive now only "in epitome," referring to the practice of some later authors (epitomators) 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 but refracted through the views of another author. Epitomes of a kind are still produced today when dealing with a corpus of literature, especially classical works often considered dense, unwieldy and unlikely to be read by the average person, to make them more accessible: some are more along the lines of abridgments, such as many which have been written of Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a work of six large volumes (about 3600 pages) often published as one volume of about 1400 pages. Some are of the same type as the ancient epitome, such as various epitomes of the Summa Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas, originally written as an introductory textbook in theology and now accessible to very few except for the learned in theology and Aristotelian philosophy, such as A Summa of the Summa and A Shorter Summa. Many epitomes today are published under the general title "The Companion to ...", such as The Oxford Companion to Aristotle, or "An Overview of ...", or "guides," such as An Overview of the Thought of Immanuel Kant, How to Read Hans Urs von Balthasar, or, in some cases, as an introduction, in the cases of An Introduction to Søren Kierkegaard or A Very Short Introduction to the New Testament (many philosophical "introductions" and "guides" share the epitomic form, unlike general "introductions" to a field).

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:4.0 / 1 vote

1. Epitomenoun

   a work in which the contents of a former work are reduced within a smaller space by curtailment and condensation; a brief summary; an abridgement

2. Epitomenoun

   a compact or condensed representation of anything

3. Etymology: [L., fr. Gr. a surface incision, also, and abridgment, fr. to cut into, cut short; 'epi` upon + te`mnein to cut: cf. F. pitome. See Tome.]

FreebaseRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Epitome

   e-pit′o-me, n. an abridgment or short summary of anything, as of a book.—adj. Epitom′ical, like an epitome.—v.t. Epit′omise, to make an epitome of: to shorten: to condense.—ns. Epit′omiser, Epit′omist, one who abridges.—In epitome, on a small scale. [Gr.,—epi, temnein, to cut.]

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. epitome

   Song lyrics by epitome -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by epitome on the Lyrics.com website.

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1. • Outline

How to pronounce epitome?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say epitome in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of epitome in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of epitome in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of epitome in a Sentence

1. Jean Giraudoux:

   A golf course is the epitome of all that is transitory in the universe, a space not to dwell in, but to get over as quickly as possible.

2. Robert Thompson:

   Reagan was the epitome of cool. He was above cool. He was post-cool, he was arguably the coolest president ever.

3. Drew Barrymore:

   I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the most exciting moment for me to meet a real-life princess, the real-life princess, the people’s Princess, the Santa Clarita Diet star told the Jimmy Kimmel Live host. The mother of two girls — Olive, 5, and Frankie, 4 — Barrymore said Princess Di was the epitome of a woman that all little girls look up to.

4. Sand Hill Principal Carla Meigs:

   We just wanted to find a way to honor Annie Julia Lockett, annie Julia Lockett's a role model for the students. Annie Julia Lockett is the epitome of a hard-working human being who has been put on this earth to serve others.

5. Tim Albrecht:

   Every campaign has a mom and Joni plays that role well, she is the most positive, outspoken, friendly person you'll ever meet and she is definitely the epitome of the campaign mom. She makes everybody feel better and makes sure everybody's fed. You know her by her signature woohoo. You always know where Joni is. Her enthusiasm is infectious, and she without question is the top 'get' in terms of volunteers.

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