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

Entwistle’s film does in fact have one as well, but test screenings prompted him to add an epilogue, one that includes a surprise cameo that is discussed later on in this interview’s brief spoiler section. —Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 30 May 2025

To save you the trouble, there’s no need to sit through the end credits; there is no surprise epilogue. —Randy Myers, Mercury News, 19 May 2025

The epilogue takes the form of an obituary for the magazine’s late founder, but also acts as Anderson’s charming ode to the golden age of longform journalism. —Shannon Carlin, Time, 30 May 2025

In the novel’s epilogue, Professor Pieixoto is speculating about the alternative identities of the woman who made the recordings. —Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 27 May 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