epitaph

Old French epitafe, from Latin epitaphium (“eulogy”), from Ancient Greek ἐπιτάφιος (epitáphios, “relating to a funeral”), from ἐπί (epí, “over”) + τάφος (táphos, “tomb”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): [ˈɛpɪtɑːf]
• (US) IPA^(key): [ˈɛpɪtæf]

• Audio (US)

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epitaph (plural epitaphs)

1. An inscription on a gravestone in memory of the deceased.
2. A poem or other short text written in memory of a deceased person.

epitaph (third-person singular simple present epitaphs, present participle epitaphing, simple past and past participle epitaphed)

1. (intransitive) To write or speak after the manner of an epitaph.
   • Bishop Hall

     The common in their speeches epitaph upon him […] "He lived as a wolf and died as a dog."

2. (transitive) To commemorate by an epitaph.
   • G. Harvey

     Let me be epitaphed the inventor of English hexameters.

• eulogy – oration about the dead, often at funeral
• obituary – published writing on the dead
• epigraph – quote on a tombstone
• hic jacet