epilogue

See also: épilogue and épilogué

English

Alternative forms

• epilog (US)

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French epilogue, from Latin epilogus, from Ancient Greek ἐπίλογος (epílogos, “a conclusion, peroration of a speech, epilogue of a play”), from ἐπιλέγω (epilégō, “to say in addition”). Eclipsed Middle English lenvoie (“epilogue”) borrowed ultimately from Old French. Equivalent to epi- +‎ -logue.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɛp.ɪ.lɒɡ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɛpɪlɔɡ/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɛpɪlɑɡ/

Noun

epilogue (plural epilogues)

1. A short speech, spoken directly at the audience at the end of a play

   In the play’s epilogue, the actor addressed the audience directly.

2. The performer who gives this speech
3. A brief oration or script at the end of a literary piece; an afterword

   The novel ended with a short epilogue.

4. (computing) A component of a computer program that prepares the computer to return from a routine.

Synonyms

• (short speech at the end of a play): endspeech
• (brief script at the end of a literary piece): afterword, endspeech; see also Thesaurus:afterword

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “short speech at the end of a play”): prologue
• (antonym(s) of “brief script at the end of a literary piece”): prologue; see also Thesaurus:foreword

Derived terms

• epilogical
• epilogist
• epiloguize

Translations

short speech at the end of a play

• Bulgarian: епило́г (bg) m (epilóg)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 收場白 / 收场白 (shōuchǎngbái)

• Finnish: loppusanat pl, jälkisanat pl, epilogi (fi), loppunäytös
• German: Epilog (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ἐπίλογος m (epílogos)

• Icelandic: lokaorð n pl, niðurlagsorð n pl
• Japanese: 閉幕辞 (へいまくじ, heimakuji), 納め口上 (おさめこうじょう, osamekōjō), エピローグ (ja) (epirōgu)
• Kyrgyz: эпилог (ky) (epilog)
• Māori: turukitanga, whakatepenga
• Portuguese: epílogo (pt) m
• Russian: эпило́г (ru) m (epilóg)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: по̏гово̄р m

  Latin: pȍgovōr (sh) m

• Spanish: epílogo (es) m
• Swedish: efterord (sv) n, epilog (sv) c
• Turkish: bağlak (tr), son söz (tr), epilog (tr)

the performer who gives this speech

brief oration or script at the end of a literary piece

• Arabic: خَاتِمَة f (ḵātima)
• Armenian: վերջաբան (hy) (verǰaban), վերջերգ (hy) (verǰerg)
• Azerbaijani: son söz, sözardı
• Belarusian: паслясло́ўе n (pasljaslówje), пасьлясло́ўе n (pasʹljaslówje), эпіло́г m (epilóh)
• Bulgarian: послесло́в m (posleslóv), епило́г (bg) m (epilóg)
• Catalan: epíleg m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 後記 / 后记 (hau⁶ gei³), 結語 / 结语 (git³ jyu⁵), 跋文 (bat⁶ man⁴)

  Mandarin: 後記 / 后记 (zh) (hòujì), 跋文 (zh) (báwén)

• Czech: epilog (cs) m, doslov m
• Danish: efterord n
• Dutch: epiloog (nl) n, nawoord (nl) n
• Esperanto: epilogo (eo)
• Finnish: epilogi (fi), jälkikirjoitus (fi), loppusanat, jälkipuhe
• French: épilogue (fr) m
• Georgian: ეპილოგი (eṗilogi)
• German: Epilog (de) m, Nachwort (de) n
• Hebrew: אֶפִּילוֹג (he) m (epilóg)
• Hindi: उपसंहार (hi) m (upsãhār)
• Hungarian: utószó (hu)
• Icelandic: lokaorð n pl, eftirmáli (is) m, niðurlagsorð n pl
• Irish: iarfhocal m
• Japanese: 結語 (ja) (けつご, ketsugo), 跋 (ja) (ばつ, batsu), エピローグ (ja) (epirōgu), 跋文 (ja) (ばつぶん, batsubun), 後書き (ja) (あとがき, atogaki)
• Kazakh: қырғы сөз (qırğı söz), соңғы сөз (soŋğı söz)
• Korean: 발문(跋文) (balmun), 에필로그 (epillogeu)
• Macedonian: епилог m (epilog)
• Māori: turukitanga
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: etterord n

• Persian:

  Dari: مُؤَخَّرَه (mu'axxara)

  Iranian Persian: مُؤَخَّرِه (mo'axxare)

• Polish: epilog (pl) m, posłowie (pl) n
• Portuguese: epílogo (pt) m
• Russian: эпило́г (ru) m (epilóg), послесло́вие (ru) n (posleslóvije)
• Serbo-Croatian: pogovor (sh) m

  Cyrillic: по̏гово̄р m

  Latin: pȍgovōr (sh) m

• Slovak: epilóg (sk) m
• Slovene: epilog m
• Spanish: epílogo (es) m
• Swedish: efterord (sv) n
• Tagalog: pamuod
• Turkish: bağlak (tr), son söz (tr), epilog (tr)
• Ukrainian: епіло́г m (epilóh), післямо́ва f (pisljamóva)
• Vietnamese: phần kết (份結), lời bạt (vi) (𠳒跋), vĩ thanh
• Yiddish: עפּילאָג m (epilog)

component of a computer program

• Irish: iarfhocal m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Hausa: ^{(please verify)} tàmat f
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} epilogo

Verb

epilogue (third-person singular simple present epilogues, present participle epiloguing, simple past and past participle epilogued)

1. (transitive) To conclude with an epilogue.

References

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “epilogue”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “epilogue”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “epilogue”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Middle French

Etymology

From Latin epilogus, from Ancient Greek ἐπίλογος (epílogos).

Noun

epilogue m (plural epilogues)

1. epilogue
   • 1555, Des preceptes et moyens de recouurer, augmenter, & contregarder la memoire, page 96:

     Finablement au lieu d’vn Epilogue, […]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• → English: epilogue
• French: épilogue