epic

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈep.ɪk/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin epicus, possibly through French épique,^[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek ἐπικός (epikós),^[2][3] from ἔπος (épos, “word, story, poem”) (see epos),^[2][3][5] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *wekw- (“to speak”), the source of voice.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a long narrative poem about heroes, such as the Iliad or Beowulf: 1589 in the OED, Barnhart and MWU, in George Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie.^[6][2][7]

Semantic evolution

The sense “grand, heroic”, like something in an epic, is from 1731.^[6][2][3] The noun meant an epic poet in the 1630s,^[3][6] and an epic poem from 1706.^[6][2][7] Bulwer-Lytton used it for a story worthy of an epic in 1831,^[2][6] and Carlyle in 1840 for any composition like an epic poem.^[2][6] Epic theatre, a 20th-century term, is in the OED.^[6] In modern use the adjective also means surpassing the usual in size or scope, and impressive.^[8]

Timeline

• 1589 – of epic poetry.^[6]
• 1630s – an epic poet.^[3]
• 1706 – an epic poem.^[6]
• 1731 – grand, heroic.^[6]
• 1831 – a story worthy of an epic.^[2]
• 1840 – a work like an epic.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A long narrative poem about the deeds of a hero.
2. A long book or film about heroic deeds or covering a long period.
3. A series of events worthy of an epic.

Adjective

1. Of or like an epic poem.
2. Very large, long or impressive: an epic journey.

Word family

• epical
• epically
• epiclike
• epicist
• nonepic
• superepic
• unepic
• mock epic

Related words

• epos
• voice
• vocal
• orthoepy

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin