GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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Found one definition

1.       
   Epitome , n.; pl. Epitomes . [L., fr. Gr.  a surface incision, also, and abridgment, fr.  to cut into, cut short; ἐπί upon + τέμνειν to cut: cf. F. épitome. See Tome.]
   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.
   1913 Webster
   [An] epitome of the contents of a very large book.
   Sydney Smith.
   
   1913 Webster
   A compact or condensed representation of anything; something possessing conspicuously or to a high degree the qualities of a class.
   1913 Webster
   +PJC
   An epitome of English fashionable life.
   Carlyle.
   
   1913 Webster
   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.
   1913 Webster