A.Word.A.Day --epigraph

A.Word.A.Day

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Jul 7, 2010

This week's theme
Words made with combining forms

This week's words
plutocracy
bibliolatry
epigraph
anemometer
stenosis

An epigraph on the Taj Mahal

Photo: Soam P. Lall

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

epigraph

PRONUNCIATION:

(EP-i-graf)

MEANING:

noun:
1. An inscription on a building or statue.
2. A quotation introducing a book or a chapter.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek epi- (on, upon) + -graph (writing).

USAGE:

"A Counterfeit Silence includes an epigraph from Thornton Wilder: 'Even speech was for them a debased form of silence.'"
William Grono and Dennis Haskell; Solitary Writer Randolph Stow Chose Silence; The Australian (Sydney); Jun 1, 2010.

See more usage examples of epigraph in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice. -Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President (1809-1865)

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