Epigraphe

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A phrase or short inscription set at the beginning of a text, often revealing a theme or contextual insight
2. A quotation or saying inscribed on a monument or work of art to provide significance or inspiration
3. An introductory statement or motto that precedes a larger text, setting the tone or framing the upcoming content

Etymology: Before it named a quotation at the front of a book, "epigraph" was a term for inscriptions carved into stone. The Greek "epigraphē" combined "epi-" ("upon") with "graphein" ("to write"), so it literally meant something written on or over a surface. Ancient Greek used it for words carved on monuments, coins, and buildings, and the field of studying such inscriptions is still called epigraphy. The literary sense came later. Printers and writers in the 1600s began using the term for a brief motto or quotation placed under a title or at the head of a work, as if the book were itself a monument with a line of text chiseled above its gate. The English word entered the language in the early 17th century through Latin "epigraphe," and it has kept that inscriptional idea ever since: an epigraph is a short text set at the threshold of something larger.

Synonyms: epigraph, inscription, engraving, caption