EPITOME

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does epitome mean? 

• EPITOME (noun)
  The noun EPITOME has 2 senses:

1. a standard or typical example

2. a brief abstract (as of an article or book)

  Familiarity information: EPITOME used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EPITOME (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A standard or typical example

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

epitome; image; paradigm; prototype

Context example:

he provided America with an image of the good father

Hypernyms ("epitome" is a kind of...):

example; model (a representative form or pattern)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "epitome"):

concentrate (a concentrated example of something)

imago ((psychoanalysis) an idealized image of someone (usually a parent) formed in childhood)

Derivation:

epitomise; epitomize (embody the essential characteristics of or be a typical example of)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A brief abstract (as of an article or book)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("epitome" is a kind of...):

abstract; outline; precis; synopsis (a sketchy summary of the main points of an argument or theory)

Derivation:

epitomise; epitomize (embody the essential characteristics of or be a typical example of)

 Context examples 

The person becomes, as it were, the epitome of the history of his own family.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)