epitome

What it means

1. The embodiment or encapsulation of a class of items.

   This is a poore Epitome of yours, / Which by th'interpretation of full time, / May ſhew like all your ſelfe.

   c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v], page 27

   1 more example

   But first I took up Ayesha's kirtle and the gauzy scarf with which she had been wont to hide her dazzling loveliness from the eyes of men, and, averting my head so that I might not look upon it, covered up that dreadful relic of the glorious dead, that shocking epitome of human beauty and human life.

   1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC

   Synonyms: exemplar, model, type, archetype, byspel, case, beau ideal, case in point

2. A representative example.

   The minute they see me, fear me / I'm the epitome of "public enemy"

   1988, “Don't Believe the Hype”, in It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, performed by Public Enemy

   1 more example

   Every single relationship in his life is transactional. That is incredibly pathetic and sad. That is the epitome of a loser.

   2026 July 5, @clearlyfoggy.bsky.social, Bluesky (post), archived from the original on 05 Jul 2026

   Synonyms: quintessential, poster child, archetype, byspel, case, beau ideal, case in point, embodiment

3. The height; the best; the most vivid.

   He looks the very epitome of fright: I do not think he could eat one of those apples, if it were given him.

   1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 240

   Synonyms: acme, greatest

In a sentence

This is a poore Epitome of yours, / Which by th'interpretation of full time, / May ſhew like all your ſelfe.

c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v], page 27

Where it comes from

1. Ancient Greekἐπιτομή“an abridgment, also a surface-incision”
2. Latinepitomē
3. Englishepitome

From Middle French, from Latin epitomē, from Ancient Greek ἐπιτομή (epitomḗ, “an abridgment, also a surface-incision”), from ἐπιτέμνω (epitémnō, “to cut upon the surface, cut short, abridge”), from ἐπι- (epi-, “up”) + τέμνω (témnō, “to cut”).