epigraph

noun

ep·​i·​graph ˈe-pə-ˌgraf 

1

: an engraved inscription

2

: a quotation set at the beginning of a literary work or one of its divisions to suggest its theme

Examples of epigraph in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

On one of his coding projects, the character added a curiously literary epigraph as a flourish above both of their names. —Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 4 May 2025

The Sibyl appears in the epigraph of The Wasteland, unable to foretell her own death. —Vipin Bharathan, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025

Miller highlighted the importance of staying in remembrance, which is why each chapter and sub-section of the book includes a direct epigraph from either the Greenwood Cultural Center’s archives or the Red Cross Relief Report. —Essence, 24 Feb. 2025

The book is an exhausting typographical obstacle course; that each of its 107 chapters begins with a snippet of poetry as an epigraph does not make reading it any easier. —Mike Hale, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Greek epigraphḗ "act of inscribing, inscription," noun of action from epigráphein "to mark the surface of, graze, scratch a mark on, inscribe" — more at epigram

First Known Use

1624, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for epigraph

• autograph
• biograph
• cenotaph
• chronograph
• epitaph
• hodograph
• holograph
• hydrograph
• lithograph
• micrograph
• monograph
• multigraph