epitaph
noun
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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
Mosab Abu Toha, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
Hackett stopped short, however, of writing the lion’s epitaph.
—Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 26 Sep. 2024
The Middle East’s return to repression provides a tragic epitaph to the post-9/11 era.
—Shadi Hamid, Foreign Affairs, 8 Sep. 2021
The federal government is paralyzed by far-right and far-left politicians and their followers who stand screaming epitaphs at each other, while the great majority of Americans in the middle are too cowed to tell them to sit down and shut up so more reasonable people can get something done.
—Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 17 Feb. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Epitaph.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epitaph. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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epitaph
noun
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