epitome

English

WOTD – 19 September 2010

Etymology

From Middle French, from Latin epitome, epitoma, from Ancient Greek ἐπιτομή (epitomē, “an abridgment, also a surface-incision”), from ἐπιτέμνω (epitemnō, “I cut upon the surface, cut short, abridge”), from ἐπί (epi-) + τέμνω (temnō, “to cut”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ɪˈpɪt.ə.mi/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (US)

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Noun

Wikipedia

epitome (plural epitomes or epitomai)

1. (of a class of items) The embodiment or encapsulation of.
2. (of a class of items) A representative example.
3. (of a class of items) The height; the best.
4. (of a written document) A brief summary.

Usage notes

The sense ‘the height, the best’ is considered incorrect by some.

Synonyms

• (an embodiment of): in a nutshell (modern idiom), synopsis
• (the best): greatest
• (a summary): abstract, synopsis

Antonyms

• antithesis

Derived terms

• epitomize
• epitomic
• epitomical

Related terms

• epitomator
• epitomist
• epitomizer

Translations

embodiment or encapsulation of

• Afrikaans: toonbeeld
• Albanian: mishërim
• Arabic: مثال m (maṯāl)
• Belarusian: ўвасабленне (ŭvasabljénnje)
• Bulgarian: въплъщение (bg) n (vǎplǎšténie)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 縮影, 缩影 (zh) (suōyǐng)

• Czech: ztělesnění
• Danish: indbegrebet
• Dutch: verwezenlijking f, belichaming f, personificatie f
• Estonian: epitoom
• Finnish: ruumiillistuma
• French: résumé (fr), épitomé (fr) m
• Galician: epítome
• German: Verkörperlichung f
• Greek: επιτομή (el) (epitomí)
• Hebrew: תמצית (tamtsot)

• Hungarian: összegzés
• Icelandic: ímynd (is)
• Italian: epitome (it)
• Japanese: 縮図 (しゅくず, shukuzu)
• Norwegian: innbegrepet
• Persian: خلاصه (fa)
• Portuguese: epítome (pt)
• Russian: воплощение (ru) (voploščénije), олицетворение (ru) n (olicetvorénije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: епитом m, утјеловљење n, персонификација, оваплоћење n

  Roman: epitom m, utjelovljenje n, personifikacija f, ovaploćenje n

• Spanish: epítome (es)
• Swedish: sammandrag, personifiering c, inbegrepp n, inkarnation (sv) c
• Turkish: özet (tr)
• Yiddish: יפּיטאַמי (ifitomi)

representative example

• Finnish: ruumiillistuma, malliesimerkki
• Italian: personificazione (it) f, incarnazione f

• Swedish: personifiera (sv)

the height; the best

• Dutch: toppunt (nl) n

• Italian: apice (it) m

summary

• Bulgarian: резюме (bg) n (rezjume)
• Dutch: samenvatting (nl) f, synopsis (nl) f, uittreksel (nl) n, excerpt (nl) n
• Finnish: tiivistelmä (fi), abstrakti (fi), yhteenveto (fi)
• French: résumé (fr), abrégé (fr)
• German: Abriss (de) m
• Italian: compendio (it) m, sommario (it) m, sunto m, sinossi (it) f, epitome (it)

• Portuguese: epítome (pt)
• Russian: конспект (ru) m (konspékt), краткое (kratkoje) изложение (izloženije) (krátkoje izložénije) n, резюме (ru) n (rezjumɛ́)
• Serbo-Croatian: sinopsis, epitom
• Spanish: epítome (es), resumen (es), sinopsis (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Manx: aagherrid m

External links

• epitome in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• epitome in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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Italian

Noun

Wikipedia ^it

epitome f (plural epitomi)

1. epitome

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Latin

Alternative forms

• epitoma

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἐπιτομή (epitomē), from ἐπιτέμνω (epitemnō), from ἐπί (epi-) + τέμνω (temnō, “to cut”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /eˈpi.to.meː/

Noun

epitomē f (genitive epitomēs); first declension

1. epitome, abridgement

Inflection

First declension, Greek type.

Number	Singular	Plural
nominative	epitomē	epitomae
genitive	epitomēs	epitomārum
dative	epitomae	epitomīs
accusative	epitomēn	epitomās
ablative	epitomē	epitomīs
vocative	epitomē	epitomae

Descendants

• English: epitome