epitaph

noun

ep·​i·​taph ˈe-pə-ˌtaf 

1

: an inscription on or at a tomb or a grave in memory of the one buried there

2

: a brief statement commemorating or epitomizing a deceased person or something past

epitaphial

ˌe-pə-ˈta-fē-əl 

adjective

epitaphic

ˌe-pə-ˈta-fik 

adjective

Did you know?

An inscription on a tomb is an epitaph, as is, by extension, anything written as if to be inscribed on a tomb. Probably the earliest surviving epitaphs are those written on ancient Egyptian sarcophagi and coffins. In Elizabethan times, epitaphs became much more common in English. Many of the best known are literary memorials (often deliberately witty) not intended for a tomb. Benjamin Franklin’s epitaph for himself plays on his trade as a printer, hoping that he will “appear once more in a new and more beautiful edition, corrected and amended by the Author.” The 20th-century writer and wit Dorothy Parker’s suggested epitaphs include “I told you I was sick” and “If you can read this, you’re standing too close.”

Examples of epitaph in a Sentence

The epitaph reads “In loving memory of John Gray: husband, father, soldier.”

Recent Examples on the Web

Even the White House Historical Association, with a caution that has become typical of this dark time, confines itself to stating that it has been allowed to make a digital record of what’s being destroyed—as though that were a defense, rather than an epitaph. —Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2025

This famous epitaph is not real, but commonly repeated. —Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Oct. 2025

The show goes ahead without her, a close up of the microphone occupying her empty chair, is perhaps her most damning epitaph. —Daniel Jonah Wolpert, NPR, 8 Sep. 2025

The epitaph for the version of the North Rim Lodge that stood from 1936 to 2025 might well be that humanity will never master the awesome nature that lies outside the picture windows. —Tom Zoellner, AZCentral.com, 25 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English epitaphe, from Anglo-French & Medieval Latin; Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin epitaphium, from Latin, funeral oration, from Greek epitaphion, from epi- + taphos tomb, funeral

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for epitaph

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

Kids Definition

epitaph

noun

ep·​i·​taph ˈep-ə-ˌtaf 

: something written (as on a gravestone) in memory of a dead person