epitaph

See also: Epitaph

English

Etymology

Old French epitafe, from Latin epitaphium (“eulogy”), from Ancient Greek ἐπιτάφιος (epitáphios, “relating to a funeral”), from ἐπί (epí, “over”) + τάφος (táphos, “tomb”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɛp.ɪˌtɑːf/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɛp.ɪˌtæf/

  • Audio (US)

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Noun

epitaph (plural epitaphs)

1. An inscription on a gravestone in memory of the deceased.
2. A poem or other short text written in memory of a deceased person.

Translations

inscription on a gravestone

• Afrikaans: epitaaf
• Armenian: տապանագիր (hy) (tapanagir), շիրմագիր (hy) (širmagir), գերեզմանագիր (hy) (gerezmanagir), դամբանագիր (hy) (dambanagir)
• Azerbaijani: epitafiya
• Belarusian: эпітафія f (epitafija), надмагільны надпіс m (nadmahilʹny nadpis), магільны надпіс m (mahilʹny nadpis)
• Bulgarian: надгробен надпис m (nadgroben nadpis)
• Catalan: epitafi m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 墓誌銘／墓志铭 (zh) (mùzhìmíng), 碑文 (zh) (bēiwén)

• Czech: epitaf m, náhrobní (cs) nápis (cs) m
• Dutch: grafschrift (nl) n
• Esperanto: tomboskribo
• Estonian: hauakiri
• Finnish: hautakirjoitus (fi), epitafi
• French: épitaphe (fr) f
• Georgian: ეპიტაფია (eṗiṭapia)
• German: Grabinschrift (de) f; (rare, elevated) Epitaph (de) n
• Hungarian: sírfelirat (hu)
• Icelandic: grafskrift (is) f
• Ido: epitafo (io)
• Indonesian: epitaf (id)
• Interlingua: epitaphio
• Irish: feartlaoi f
• Italian: epitaffio (it) m
• Japanese: エピタフ (epitafu), 墓碑銘 (ja) (ぼひめい, bohimei)
• Kazakh: құлпытастағы жазу (qūlpytastağy jazu), эпитафия (épitafiä)
• Korean: 묘지명(墓誌銘) (ko) (myojimyeong), 묘비명(墓碑銘) (ko) (myobimyeong), 에피타프 (epitapeu)
• Latin: titulus m, epitaphium n
• Malay: epitaf
• Persian: مزارنوشته (mazârnevešte), گورنوشته
• Polish: epitafium (pl) n
• Portuguese: epitáfio (pt) m
• Russian: эпита́фия (ru) f (epitáfija), надгро́бная на́дпись f (nadgróbnaja nádpisʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: leac-sgrìobhadh m
• Spanish: epitafio (es) m
• Swedish: epitafium (sv) n, epitaf (sv) n
• Ukrainian: епіта́фія f (epitáfija), намоги́льний на́пис m (namohýlʹnyj nápys)
• Uzbek: epitafiya
• Vietnamese: văn bia

commemorative poem or other text

• Belarusian: эпітафія f (epitafija)
• Finnish: muistokirjoitus (fi), muistoruno, epitafi
• German: (in prose) Nachruf (de), Gedenkschrift f; (in verse) Elegie (de) f, Gedenkgedicht n, Trauergedicht n
• Icelandic: eftirmæli (is) n, (an obituary) minningargrein (is) f
• Irish: feartlaoi f
• Italian: epitaffio (it) m, discorso funebre m
• Polish: epitafium (pl) n
• Russian: эпита́фия (ru) f (epitáfija)

Verb

epitaph (third-person singular simple present epitaphs, present participle epitaphing, simple past and past participle epitaphed)

1. (intransitive) To write or speak after the manner of an epitaph.
   • 1606, Joseph Hall, Heaven upon Earth:

     The Commons in their speeches epitaph upon him […] "He lived as a wolf and died as a dog."

2. (transitive) To commemorate by an epitaph.
   • 1592, Gabriel Harvey, Foure Letters and certaine Sonnets:

     Let me rather be epitaphed the inventor of the English Hexameter.

See also

• eulogy – oration about the dead, often at funeral
• obituary – published writing on the dead
• epigraph – quote on a tombstone
• hic jacet