epilogue

noun

ep·​i·​logue ˈe-pə-ˌlȯg 

-ˌläg

variants or less commonly epilog

1

: a concluding section that rounds out the design of a literary work

2

a

: a speech often in verse addressed to the audience by an actor at the end of a play

also : the actor speaking such an epilogue

b

: the final scene of a play that comments on or summarizes the main action

3

: the concluding section of a musical composition : coda

Did you know?

From its Greek roots, epilogue means basically "words attached (at the end)". An epilogue often somehow wraps up a story's action, as in the one for a famous Shakespeare play that ends, "For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo". In nonfiction books, we now often use the term afterword instead of epilogue, just as we now generally use foreword instead of prologue. Movies also often have a kind of epilogue--maybe a scene after the exciting climax when the surviving lovers meet in a café to talk about their future. The epilogue of a musical composition, after all the drama is over, is called the coda (Italian for "tail").

Examples of epilogue in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The vampire thriller, starring Michael B. Jordan in a dual role, contains not one but two epilogues: one mid-credits and another at the very end. —Nicholas Creel, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Apr. 2025

Even Izzard’s brief epilogue, charmingly dedicating the performance to a fellow thespian, crackles with more verve than the most famous of soliloquies. —Karen D'souza, Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2025

Brandy hits the final line and wakes up in real life, and from there, the episode jumps to an epilogue in the lead-up to the movie’s release. —Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 10 Apr. 2025

The episode fills in who Spencer becomes without Alex, and then Taylor Sheridan delivers this epilogue ending, where Spencer and Alex reunite in the afterlife. —Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 6 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English epiloge, from Middle French epilogue, from Latin epilogus, from Greek epilogos, from epilegein to say in addition, from epi- + legein to say — more at legend

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for epilogue

• analog
• analogue
• catalogue
• decalogue
• demagogue
• dialogue
• homologue
• monologue
• pedagogue
• synagogue
• tagalog
• travelogue

Kids Definition

epilogue

noun

ep·​i·​logue

variants also epilog

ˈep-ə-ˌlȯg 

-ˌläg

1

: a final section that brings to an end and summarizes or comments on the action or characters of a story

2

: a speech often in verse addressed to the audience by an actor at the end of a play