Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Epitaph

Definitions: Epitaph

Epitaph

Noun

1. An inscription on a tombstone or monument in memory of the person buried there.

2. A summary statement of commemoration for a dead person.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "epitaph" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references)

 

Specialty Definitions: Epitaph

DomainDefinitions

Satire

EPITAPH, n. An inscription on a tomb, showing that virtues acquired by death have a retroactive effect. Following is a touching example: Here lie the bones of Parson Platt, Wise, pious, humble and all that, Who showed us life as all should live it; Let that be said -- and God forgive it!. Source: Devil's Dictionary.

19th Century Satire

A statement that usually lies above about the one who lies beneath. Source: Foolish Dictionary, 1904.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Synonyms within Context: Epitaph

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Interment

Funeral, funeral rite, funeral solemnity; kneel, passing bell, tolling; dirge. (lamentation); cypress; orbit, dead march, muffled drum; mortuary, undertaker, mute; elegy; funeral, funeral oration, funeral sermon; epitaph.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Epitaph

English words defined with "epitaph": Epitaphian, Epitaphic. (references)
Specialty definitions using "epitaph": BALFOURCooks, Crimp of DeathEpitaphForgive, blest ShadeINSCRIPTIONLilburneMutton-eating KingScotusWhat we Gave we Have, What we Spent we Had, What we Had we Lost, Wittington. (references)
Non-English Usage: "Epitaph" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses.

German (epitaph).

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Modern Usage: Epitaph

DomainUsage

Screenplays

There is an epitaph I'd like: Matthew 10:36. Well, Peter this is what comes of 'empire building. ('Breaker' Morant; writing credit: Kenneth Ross; Jonathan Hardy)

Amigo, you just wrote my epitaph! (The Professionals; writing credit: Richard Brooks; Frank O'Rourke)

Lyrics

Confusion will be my epitaph. ("EPITAPH"; performing artist: King Crimson)

Movie/TV Titles

No Epitaph to Us Kamikaze Cop (1971)

The Epitaph (1970)

Epitaph to My Love (1961)

Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960)

Epitaph for a Spy (1953)

Song Titles

Epitaph (performing artist: King Crimson)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Epitaph

DomainTitle

Books

  

Periodicals

  

Music

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Photo Album: Epitaph

ThumbnailDescription & CreditThumbnailDescription & Credit

Epitaph.Credit: Library of Congress.

Epitaph.Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Familiar Quotations: Epitaph

AuthorQuotation

Friedrich Nietzsche

Wit is the epitaph of an emotion.

Robert Emmet

Let there be no inscription upon my tomb. Let no man write my epitaph. No man can write my epitaph. I am here ready to die.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Epitaph

SubjectTopicQuote

Lexicography

Devil's Dictionary

INSCRIPTION, n. Something written on another thing. Inscriptions are of many kinds, but mostly memorial, intended to commemorate the fame of some illustrious person and hand down to distant ages the record of his services and virtues. To this class of inscriptions belongs the name of John Smith, penciled on the Washington monument. Following are examples of memorial inscriptions on tombstones: (See EPITAPH.) "In the sky my soul is found, And my body in the ground. By and by my body'll rise To my spirit in the skies, Soaring up to Heaven's gate. 1878." "Sacred to the memory of Jeremiah Tree. Cut down May 9th, 1862, aged 27 yrs. 4 mos. and 12 ds. Indigenous." "Affliction sore long time she boar, Phisicians was in vain, Till Deth released the dear deceased And left her a remain. Gone to join Ananias in the regions of bliss." "The clay that rests beneath this stone As Silas Wood was widely known. Now, lying here, I ask what good It was to let me be S. Wood. O Man, let not ambition trouble you, Is the advice of Silas W." "Richard Haymon, of Heaven. Fell to Earth Jan. 20, 1807, and had the dust brushed off him Oct. 3, 1874."

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Usage Frequency: Epitaph

"Epitaph" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 98.33% of the time. "Epitaph" is used about 120 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Noun (singular)98.33%11829,674
Noun (proper)1.67%2245,945
                    Total100.00%120N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Epitaph

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

epitaph

358

epitaph moonlight

3

epitaph record

127

epitaph writing

2

epitaph spy

107

epitaph grave

2

author epitaph spy

52

epitaph let man no write

2

epitaph twilight

29

epitaph example

2

epitaph famous

13

epitaph mother

2

epitaph funny

13

epitaph records.com

2

the tombstone epitaph

12

epitaph poetry

2

epitaph poem

11

epitaph write

2

epitaph humorous

5

epitaph picture

2

christian epitaph

3

epitaph king crimson

2

tombstones epitaph

3

epitaph veteran

2

epitaph james joyce

3

epitaph funny poem

2

epitaph shakespeare

3

epitaph lyrics

2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translations: Epitaph

Language Translations for "epitaph"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Albanian

  

epitaf, mbishkrim varri (motto). (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏كلمة قصيرة, ‏نقش على ضريح. (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

надгробен надпис, епитафия. (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

"誌銘 . (various references)

   

Czech

  

epitaf, náhrobní nápis. (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

نوشته روی سنگ قبر (Hicjacet), وفات نامه . (various references)

   

French

  

épitaphe. (various references)

   

German

  

grabinschrift (monumental inscription), Grabschrift. (various references)

   

Greek 

  

επιτάφιοσ (sepulchral), επιτάφιο επίγραμα. (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

sírfelirat. (various references)

   

Indonesian

  

tulisan pada nisan. (various references)

   

Italian

  

epitaffio. (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji 

  

碑銘 (inscription). (various references)

   

Japanese Katakana 

  

ひぶ" (epigraph, inscription), ひめい (inscription, scream, shriek, unnatural or untimely death), ぼひめい (inscription on a tombstone), ぼし (inscription on a tomb, mother and child, thumb), エ"タフ . (various references)

   

Manx

  

kione-ghraue (title, title of book). (various references)

   

Norwegian

  

gravskrift. (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

epitaphay

   

Portuguese

  

arquitrave (architrave). (various references)

   

Romanian

  

epitaf. (various references)

   

Russian 

  

эпитафия. (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

epitaf. (various references)

   

Spanish

  

epitafio. (various references)

   

Swedish

  

gravskrift (memorial words), epitaf. (various references)

   

Turkish

  

mezar yazıtı, kitabe (epigraph, inscription, legend, panel, tablet, writing). (various references)

   

Ukranian 

  

епітафія. (various references)

   

Vietnamese 

  

văn mộ chí, mộ chi văn bia. (various references)

   

Welsh

  

beddargraff. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Ancestral Language Translations: Epitaph

LanguagePeriodTranslations
Greek700 BCE-300 CE

epigramma. (various references)

Latin500 BCE-Modern

epitaphium. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Derivations & Misspellings: Epitaph

Derivations

Words beginning with "epitaph": epitaphial, epitaphic, epitaphs. (additional references)


Misspellings

"Epitaph" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: epitaf, epitagh, epitah, epitaphy, epitath, epiteph, epiteth, epithaph, epitope, eptiaph. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Rhyming with "Epitaph"

# of Phoneme MatchesPronunciationWord(s) rhyming with "epitaph" (pronounced e"puta'f)
3-t a' fflagstaff, overstaff.

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

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Anagrams: Epitaph

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "a-e-h-i-p-p-t"

-2 letters: pieta, pipet.

-3 letters: eath, epha, haet, hate, heap, heat, pate, path, peat, phat, pipe, pita, pith, tape, tepa, thae.

-4 letters: ait, ape, apt, ate, eat, eta, eth, hae, hap, hat, hep, het, hie, hip, hit, pah, pap, pat, pea, peh, pep, pet, phi, pht, pia, pie, pip, pit, tae, tap, tea, the, tie.

 Words containing the letters "a-e-h-i-p-p-t"
 

+1 letter: epitaphs, happiest.

 

+2 letters: epitaphic.

 

+3 letters: epitaphial, unhappiest.

 

+4 letters: apophyllite, apostleship, diphosphate, epigraphist, paperweight, partnership, phosphatide, phosphatize, praetorship, primateship, prophetical, transhipped.

 

+5 letters: apophyllites, apostleships, apostrophise, apostrophize, diphosphates, epigraphists, hyperplastic, hypertypical, leptocephali, naprapathies, nephropathic, paperweights, partnerships, periphrastic, petrographic, phenotypical, phosphatides, phosphatized, phosphatizes, praetorships, primateships, slaphappiest, topographies, transshipped, triphosphate, typographies.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

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Alternative Orthography: Epitaph


Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

45 70 69 74 61 70 68

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)

=

Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)

Braille (1829, in France) (references)

Morse Code (1836) (references)

.    .--.    ..    -    .-    .--.    ....

Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)

Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)

01000101 01110000 01101001 01110100 01100001 01110000 01101000

HTML Code (1990) (references)

&#69 &#112 &#105 &#116 &#97 &#112 &#104

ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)

0045 0070 0069 0074 0061 0070 0068

British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)

Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)

39827586678274

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INDEX

1. Definition
2. Crosswords
3. Usage: Modern
4. Usage: Commercial
5. Images: Photo Album
6. Quotations: Familiar
7. Quotations: Non-fiction
8. Usage Frequency
9. Expressions: Internet
10. Translations: Modern
11. Translations: Ancient
12. Derivations
13. Rhymes
14. Anagrams
15. Orthography
16. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.