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: /ɪˈpɪt.ə.mi/, X-SAMPA: /I"pIt.@.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 (af)
• Albanian: mishërim (sq)
• Arabic: مثال (ar) (maṯāl) m
• Belarusian: ўвасабленне (be) (ŭvasabljénnje)
• Bulgarian: въплъщение (bg) (vǎplǎšténie) n
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 縮影 (cmn), 缩影 (cmn) (suōyǐng)

• Czech: ztělesnění (cs)
• Danish: indbegrebet (da)
• Dutch: verwezenlijking (nl) f, belichaming (nl) f, personificatie (nl) f
• Estonian: epitoom (et)
• Finnish: ruumiillistuma (fi)
• French: résumé (fr), épitomé (fr) m
• Galician: epítome (gl)
• German: Verkörperlichung (de) f
• Greek: επιτομή (el) (epitomí)

• Hebrew: תמצית (he) (tamtsot)
• Hungarian: összegzés (hu)
• Icelandic: ímynd (is)
• Italian: epitome (it)
• Japanese: 縮図 (ja) (しゅくず, shukuzu)
• Norwegian: innbegrepet (no)
• Persian: خلاصه (fa)
• Portuguese: epítome (pt)
• Russian: воплощение (ru) (voploščénije), олицетворение (ru) (olicetvorénije) n
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: епитом (sh) m, утјеловљење (sh) n, персонификација (sh), оваплоћење (sh) n

  Roman: epitom (sh) m, utjelovljenje (sh) n, personifikacija (sh) f, ovaploćenje (sh) n

• Spanish: epítome (es)
• Swedish: sammandrag (sv)
• Turkish: özet (tr)
• Yiddish: יפּיטאַמי (yi) (ifitomi)

representative example

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

• Swedish: personifiera (sv)

the height; the best

• Dutch: toppunt (nl) n

• Italian: apice (it) m

summary

• Bulgarian: резюме (bg) (rezjume) n
• 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 (it) m, sinossi (it) f, epitome (it)

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

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: /eˈpi.to.meː/

Noun

epitomē (genitive epitomēs); f, first declension

1. epitome, abridgement

Inflection

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

Descendants

• English: epitome