epilogue
noun
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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
Nick Romano, EW.com, 2 Apr. 2025
Microsoft's recent announcement that Skype will be shutting down in May 2025 provides a perfect epilogue to a 14-year journey that began with an $8.5 billion acquisition.
—Jennifer J. Fondrevay, Forbes.com, 31 Mar. 2025
This essay has been adapted from the epilogue of Swisher’s book Burn Book: A Tech Love Story
About the Author
Kara Swisher
Kara Swisher is a journalist based in Washington, D.C.
—Kara Swisher, The Atlantic, 9 Mar. 2025
The epilogue, set at a Venice Biennale in the eighties, then switches to a touristy video format that drives home a point about the kitschy co-optation of art.
—Namwali Serpell, The New Yorker, 8 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for epilogue
Cite this Entry
“Epilogue.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epilogue. Accessed 6 Apr. 2025.
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epilogue
noun
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