E‐pit″o‐me (?), n.; pl.Epitomes (#). [L., fr. Gr. � a surface incision, also, and abridgment, fr. � to cut into, cut short; επἴ upon + τέμνειν to cut: cf. F. épitome. See Tome.] 1. A work in which the contents of a former work are reduced within a smaller space by curtailment and condensation; a brief summary; an abridgement.
epitome of the contents of a very large book. Sydney Smith.
2. A compact or condensed representation of anything.
An epitome of English fashionable life. Carlyle.
A man so various that he seemed to be
Not one, but all mankind's epitome. Dryden.
Syn. — Abridgement; compendium; compend; abstract; synopsis; abbreviature. See Abridgment.