Epitomes

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Epitome \E*pit"o*me\, n.; pl. {Epitomes}. [L., fr. Gr. ? a
     surface incision, also, and abridgment, fr. ? to cut into,
     cut short; 'epi` upon + te`mnein to cut: cf. F. ['e]pitome.
     See {Tome}.]
     1. A work in which the contents of a former work are reduced
        within a smaller space by curtailment and condensation; a


        brief summary; an abridgement.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              [An] epitome of the contents of a very large book.
                                                    --Sydney
                                                    Smith.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A compact or condensed representation of anything;
        something possessing conspicuously or to a high degree the
        qualities of a class.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
              An epitome of English fashionable life. --Carlyle.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              A man so various that he seemed to be
              Not one, but all mankind's epitome.   --Dryden.
  
     Syn: Abridgement; compendium; compend; abstract; synopsis;
          abbreviature. See {Abridgment}.
          [1913 Webster]