Wordwyrt

epitome

/ɪˈpɪtəmi/ih-PIH-tuh-mee
/ɪˈpɪtəmi/ih-PIH-tuh-mee

Meaninga cutting short

Common meaning: a perfect example

Other meanings: originally a cut-down summary

‘upon’ + ‘to cut’ → epitome

Journey through time

  1. Greekτέμνω; τομή‘to cut’
  2. Latinepitome
  3. Englishepitome‘a perfect example’ · today

epi- also in: episodeepistleepitaphepithetepigraph

tom also in: atomanatomy

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Greek τέμνω; τομή ‘to cut; a cutting’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), entry τέμνω, p. 1540 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

anatomyatom

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app