epigraph
noun
ep·i·graph
ˈe-pə-ˌgraf 
1
: an engraved inscription
2
: a quotation set at the beginning of a literary work or one of its divisions to suggest its theme
Examples of epigraph in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But what those hundreds of pounds of muscle and fur might mean is challenging to see through the dark woods of this intense novel, which begins with an epigraph from the Brothers Grimm.
—
Ron Charles, Washington Post, 18 June 2024
The epigraph of that book is from this book by Carol Queen, who’s a huge hero of mine, called The Leather Daddy and the Femme.
—Emma Specter, Vogue, 13 June 2024
This quotation, from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, serves as the fitting epigraph to Robert Draper’s riveting new book on U.S. President George W. Bush’s decision to go to war in Iraq.
—Melvyn P. Leffler, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2020
Farmers had wrenched the metal from monuments to make tools and used broken statues and epigraphs to build walls to protect their flocks and crops.
—Rachel Howard, Travel + Leisure, 26 Apr. 2024
The book opens with an epigraph from Eliot, as if to announce that Waldman is explicitly working in the tradition of the big, morally serious social novel that studies delicate textures of human interaction and psychological response.
—Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2024
James’s epigraph is a snapshot of songs from the notebook of Daniel Decatur Emmett, a founder of the first blackface minstrel troupe, a wink at how Jim will play his intelligence to survive amidst his white counterparts.
—Vulture, 2 Jan. 2024
Two of the novel’s epigraphs might illustrate what fiction can accomplish.
—Sam Needleman, The New York Review of Books, 2 Sep. 2023
Like Pond, Bennett’s 2015 debut, Checkout 19 comes heavily buttressed with epigraphs.
—Gabriel Winslow-Yost, Harper's Magazine, 9 Feb. 2022
Ron Charles, Washington Post, 18 June 2024
The epigraph of that book is from this book by Carol Queen, who’s a huge hero of mine, called The Leather Daddy and the Femme.
—Emma Specter, Vogue, 13 June 2024
This quotation, from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, serves as the fitting epigraph to Robert Draper’s riveting new book on U.S. President George W. Bush’s decision to go to war in Iraq.
—Melvyn P. Leffler, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2020
Farmers had wrenched the metal from monuments to make tools and used broken statues and epigraphs to build walls to protect their flocks and crops.
—Rachel Howard, Travel + Leisure, 26 Apr. 2024
The book opens with an epigraph from Eliot, as if to announce that Waldman is explicitly working in the tradition of the big, morally serious social novel that studies delicate textures of human interaction and psychological response.
—Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2024
James’s epigraph is a snapshot of songs from the notebook of Daniel Decatur Emmett, a founder of the first blackface minstrel troupe, a wink at how Jim will play his intelligence to survive amidst his white counterparts.
—Vulture, 2 Jan. 2024
Two of the novel’s epigraphs might illustrate what fiction can accomplish.
—Sam Needleman, The New York Review of Books, 2 Sep. 2023
Like Pond, Bennett’s 2015 debut, Checkout 19 comes heavily buttressed with epigraphs.
—Gabriel Winslow-Yost, Harper's Magazine, 9 Feb. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'epigraph.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Epigraph.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epigraph. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
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