epigramma

Forms

epigramma n (genitive epigrammatis); third declension^[1] Genitive epigrammatis or epigrammatos; genitive plural epigrammatōn or epigrammatum; dative and ablative plural epigrammatīs.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐπίγραμμα (epígramma, “inscription”),^[2][1][4] from ἐπί (epí, “on”) and γράμμα (grámma, “letter”).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero has it first,^[4] of a famous Greek inscription carved on the base of a statue in the speeches against Verres.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is an inscription, especially an epitaph: Nepos has one on an offering and Petronius on tombstones.^[3][2] Petronius also uses it of the brand of runaways traced across a face.^[2] Cicero, in the Pro Archia, tells of a bad poet who wrote an epigram in alternating longer lines; from this it is the short poem, as in Quintilian, Suetonius and above all Martial's books of Epigrammata.^[2][3] English epigram came from it in the mid-15th century through Old French.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of an inscription on a statue base and of a short poem.^[2][3][4]
• c. 100–24 BC – Nepos, of an inscription on an offering.^[3][4]
• before 66 AD – Petronius, of a brand traced on a face.^[2][4]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial's Epigrammata.^[3][4]
• mid-15th century – English epigram, through Old French.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. An inscription, especially an epitaph.^[2][3][1]
2. A mark branded or tattooed on a criminal or runaway.^[2]
3. A short poem, an epigram.^[2][3][1]

Word family

• epigrammatarius
• epigrammaticus

Related words

• titulus
• inscrīptiō
• English epigram

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com