Words / B2

EP-it-ahf/ˈepɪtɑːf/

An epitaph is words written in memory of a dead person, especially on a tombstone: an epitaph; write an epitaph. Elegy is a poem of mourning; inscription is broader (any carved writing); obituary is a published notice. Quote the epitaph in the source, then the date. Mix-up: epitaph vs epigraph (a quotation at the start of a book); epitaph vs epithet; do not write epitaph for a living dedication in a preface.

Meaning

Words written in memory of a dead person, especially on a tombstone.

Examples

• “Quote the epitaph in the source, then the date, the history paper said.”
• “The poem reads as an epitaph, which is still a named dead figure — quote the line.”

Good to know

an epitaph; an epitaph for / to. Close: inscription / elegy. Contrast: epigraph (book quotation); obituary (notice). Trap: epithet / a living dedication. History, English, and RS. Tomb words — quote them and date the stone.

Near in meaning

inscription, memorial words, tomb text

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