Etymology of Epitome

Epitome (pronounced: ɪˈpɪtəmi/ɛˈpɪtəmi/əˈpɪdəmi, ‘ih-pit-uh-mee’):

n. “A brief statement of the chief points in a literary work; an abridgement, abstract” according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Transf. “something that forms a condensed record or representation ‘in miniature’” (OED). In depreciatory sense: “Something that is reduced to insignificant dimensions” (OED), Obs. “In epitome” can mean a) in the form of a summary, b) in a diminutive form – also OED. Roots in Latin, Middle French (épitomé), and Greek. 

If you were to look online, you’d notice that one of the most questioned aspects of the word ‘epitome’ is its pronunciation – or, more specifically, whether it’s to be pronounced “eh”-pitome or “ih”-pitome… or epi-“doh”-me. As expected, depending on where you’re from, the way you say it changes. For example, as reported by the New Oxford American Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary, the American pronunciation includes the middle “doh” sound, and the English pronunciations differ between that starting “ih” or “eh.” However, you can assume you’re doing all right so long as you don’t make that fatal mistake of writing “epitomy” rather than “epitome” – which an embarrassingly large amount of people across the internet seem to do… 

Where does it come from? Well, it goes back as far as the 1520s, when John Frith (Evangelical theologian and martyr) wrote, “A litle tretyse after the maner of an Epitome and shorte rehersall of all thinges that are examined more diligently in the aforesayd boke.” This, of course, probably means little to you and I – but it was the birth of a what is now a widely used word. At this point, epitomes were small statements which essentially bullet pointed the main points in works of literature. Brief summary: this definition of ‘abridgement’ stems from the splitting of the word epitemnein, from ‘epi’ meaning “into” and"temnein" meaning to cut (see tome). Basically, it’s a word that forms the meaning of cutting into something, hence the definition of making something smaller – presenting a concise statement.

The Oxford English Dictionary spans several hundreds of years’ worth of use: from Queen Catherine v.49, "My Lord, you’re come to meet news as sad As what you bring; to see a wretched Court, The very Epitome of sorrow," which was in 1648… To Mike Gayle in 2000: "This guy in his early twenties, with his goatee beard, beanie hat and trainers… undoubtedly thought he was the epitome of cool." In this instance the word is used in a more modern, recognisable way, which was the sense of a person or thing typifying something – a definition which came about in the 1600s. Apart from the dramatic change in the way these two examples speak, you can see they’re using the word in the same way – although apparently it isn’t the definition of “epitome” Gayle struggles with, but the definition of “cool” (said in jest, of course). 

** Written by @Hevzzzz - Our new and lovely intern.