epitome

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: e=pit=o=me

CIDE DICTIONARY

epitome, n. [L., fr. Gr. a surface incision, also, and abridgment, fr. to cut into, cut short; 'epi` upon + te`mnein to cut: cf. F. épitome. See Tome.].

•  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."  [1913 Webster]
•  A compact or condensed representation of anything; something possessing conspicuously or to a high degree the qualities of a class.  [1913 Webster]

  "An epitome of English fashionable life."  [1913 Webster]

  "A man so various that he seemed to be
  Not one, but all mankind's epitome."

Syn. -- Abridgement; compendium; compend; abstract; synopsis; abbreviature. See Abridgment.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

epitome, n.
1 a person or thing embodying a quality, class, etc.
2 a thing representing another in miniature.
3 a summary of a written work; an abstract.

Derivative

epitomist n.

Etymology

L f. Gk epitome f. epitemno abridge (as EPI-, temno cut)

THESAURUS

epitome

abbreviation, abbreviature, abrege, abridgement, abridgment, abstract, antetype, antitype, apocope, archetype, biotype, breviary, brief, capsule, classic example, compend, compendium, compression, condensation, condensed version, conspectus, contraction, criterion, curtailment, digest, draft, elision, ellipsis, embodiment, essence, exemplar, foreshortening, fugleman, fugler, genotype, head, imitatee, last word, lead, mirror, model, original, outline, overview, pandect, paradigm, pattern, personification, precedent, precis, prototype, quintessence, recap, recapitulation, reduction, representative, resume, retrenchment, review, rubric, rule, shortened version, shortening, skeleton, sketch, standard, sum, summary, summation, summing-up, survey, syllabus, syncope, synopsis, telescoping, thumbnail sketch, topical outline, truncation, type, type species, type specimen, typical example, ultimate, urtext

ROGET THESAURUS

epitome

Conciseness

N conciseness, brevity, the soul of wit, laconism, Tacitus, ellipsis, syncope, abridgment, compression, epitome, monostich, brunch word, portmanteau word, concise, brief, short, terse, close, to the point, exact, neat, compact, compressed, condensed, pointed, laconic, curt, pithy, trenchant, summary, pregnant, compendious, succinct, elliptical, epigrammatic, quaint, crisp, sententious, concisely, briefly, summarily, in brief, in short, in a word, in a few words, for shortness sake, to come to the point, to make a long story short, to cut the matter short, to be brief, it comes to this, the long and the short of it is, brevis esse laboro obscurus fio.

Compendium

N compend, compendium, abstract, precis, epitome, multum in parvo, analysis, pandect, digest, sum and substance, brief, abridgment, summary, apercu, draft, minute, note, excerpt, synopsis, textbook, conspectus, outlines, syllabus, contents, heads, prospectus, album, scrap book, note book, memorandum book, commonplace book, extracts, excerpta, cuttings, fugitive pieces, fugitive writing, spicilegium, flowers, anthology, collectanea, analecta, compilation, recapitulation, resume, review, abbreviation, abbreviature, contraction, shortening, compression, compendious, synoptic, analectic, abrege, abridged, variorum, in short, in epitome, in substance, in few words, it lies in a nutshell.

Littleness

N littleness, smallness, exiguity, inextension, parvitude, parvity, duodecimo, Elzevir edition, epitome, microcosm, rudiment, vanishing point, thinness, dwarf, pygmy, pigmy, Liliputian, chit, pigwidgeon, urchin, elf, atomy, dandiprat, doll, puppet, Tom Thumb, Hop-o'-my-thumb, manikin, mannikin, homunculus, dapperling, cock-sparrow, animalcule, monad, mite, insect, emmet, fly, midge, gnat, shrimp, minnow, worm, maggot, entozoon, bacteria, infusoria, microzoa, phytozoaria, microbe, grub, tit, tomtit, runt, mouse, small fry, millet seed, mustard seed, barleycorn, pebble, grain of sand, molehill, button, bubble, point, atom, fragment, powder, point of a pin, mathematical point, minutiae, micrometer, vernier, scale, microphotography, photomicrography, micrography, photomicrograph, microphotograph, microscopy, microscope (optical instruments), little, small, minute, diminutive, microscopic, microzoal, inconsiderable, exiguous, puny, tiny, wee, petty, minikin, miniature, pygmy, pigmy, elfin, undersized, dwarf, dwarfed, dwarfish, spare, stunted, limited, cramp, cramped, pollard, Liliputian, dapper, pocket, portative, portable, duodecimo, dumpy, squat, short, impalpable, intangible, evanescent, imperceptible, invisible, inappreciable, insignificant, inconsiderable, trivial, infinitesimal, homoeopathic, atomic, subatomic, corpuscular, molecular, rudimentary, rudimental, embryonic, vestigial, weazen, scant, scraggy, scrubby, thin, granular, shrunk, brevipennate, in a small compass, in a nutshell, on a small scale, minutely, microscopically.

Shortness

N shortness, brevity, littleness, a span, shortening, abbreviation, abbreviature, abridgment, concision, retrenchment, curtailment, decurtation, reduction, epitome, elision, ellipsis, conciseness, abridger, epitomist, epitomizer, short, brief, curt, compendious, compact, stubby, scrimp, shorn, stubbed, stumpy, thickset, pug, chunky, decurtate, retrousse, stocky, squab, squabby, squat, dumpy, little, curtailed of its fair proportions, short by, oblate, concise, summary, shortly, in short.