epilogue

play

noun ep·i·logue \ ˈe-pə-ˌlȯg , -ˌläg \

variants: or less commonly epilog

Definition of epilogue

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

See epilogue defined for English-language learners

See epilogue defined for kids

Recent Examples of epilogue from the Web

Related stories from Star-Telegram Titletown, TX, epilogue:

— brian gosset, star-telegram, "Aledo’s Big Game James Williams commits to Big Sky’s Montana State," 23 July 2017
A Manchester City-PSG pairing at some point in next season's Champions League would offer quite the epilogue to this free transfer saga.

— si.com staff, SI.com, "Dani Alves signs with PSG after reported Manchester City interest," 12 July 2017
The film's real problem area is its epilogue, which should either be scrapped altogether or given its own spin-off feature, as there is way too little time to properly explore everything contained in those couple of minutes.

— boyd van hoeij, The Hollywood Reporter, "'The White World According to Daliborek' ('Svet podle Daliborka'): Film Review | Karlovy Vary 2017," 7 July 2017
Based on both the filmmaker's reputation and the hot-button issue examined here, festivals further afield will also be interested, even though the film's epilogue is especially problematic.

— boyd van hoeij, The Hollywood Reporter, "'The White World According to Daliborek' ('Svet podle Daliborka'): Film Review | Karlovy Vary 2017," 7 July 2017
EPILOGUEIn July 2016, nine years after Paige Birgfeld went missing, Lester Ralph Jones went on trial for her murder.

— CBS News, "The Secret Life Of Paige Birgfeld," 1 July 2017
EPILOGUE In July 2016, nine years after Paige Birgfeld went missing, Lester Ralph Jones went on trial for her murder.

— CBS News, "The Secret Life Of Paige Birgfeld," 1 July 2017
The BET Awards was like that, but with seven epilogues.

— derek lawrence, PEOPLE.com, "Everything You Didn’t See at This Year’s BET Awards," 26 June 2017
And in the epilogue, 19 years later, although Harry himself seems to have finally decided that Snape was a hero and all Slytherins aren't bad, the rest of the Wizarding World has clearly fallen right back into the old bias.

— cecilia tan, Ars Technica, "Coming out as a Slytherin," 25 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'epilogue.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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").

Origin and Etymology of epilogue

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year