Part 795

E*pis"to*li`zer (?), n. A writer of epistles.

E*pis`to*lo*graph"ic (?), a. [Gr. &?; : cf. F. épistolographique.] Pertaining to the writing of letters; used in writing letters; epistolary.

Epistolographic character or mode of writing, the same as Demotic character. See under Demotic.

E*pis`to*log"ra*phy (?), n. [Gr. &?; epistle + -graphy: cf. F. épistolographie.] The art or practice of writing epistles.

{ ||E*pis"to*ma (?), Ep"i*stome (?), } n. [NL. epistoma, fr. Gr. 'epi` upon + &?;, &?;, mouth.] (Zoöl.) (a) The region between the antennæ and the mouth, in Crustacea. (b) A liplike organ that covers the mouth, in most Bryozoa. See Illust., under Entoprocta.

||E*pis"tro*phe (?), n. [L., from Gr. &?; a turning toward, return, fr. &?; to turn toward; 'epi` upon, to + &?; to turn.] (Rhet.) A figure in which successive clauses end with the same word or affirmation; e. g., "Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I." 2 Cor. xi. 22.

Ep"i*style (?), n. [L. epistylium, Gr. &?;; 'epi` upon + &?; column: cf. F. épistyle.] (Anc. Arch.) A massive piece of stone or wood laid immediately on the abacus of the capital of a column or pillar; -- now called architrave.

Ep`i*syl"lo*gism (?), n. [Pref. epi- + syllogism.] (Logic) A syllogism which assumes as one of its premises a proposition which was the conclusion of a preceding syllogism, called, in relation to this, the prosyllogism.

Ep"i*taph (?), n. [F. épitaphe, L. epitaphium a funeral oration, fr. Gr. &?;, orig. an adj., over or at a tomb; 'epi` upon + &?; tomb. Cf. Cenotaph.] 1. An inscription on, or at, a tomb, or a grave, in memory or commendation of the one buried there; a sepulchral inscription.

Hang her an epitaph upon her tomb.

Shak.

2. A brief writing formed as if to be inscribed on a monument, as that concerning Alexander: "Sufficit huic tumulus, cui non sufficeret orbis."

Ep"i*taph, v. t. To commemorate by an epitaph. [R.]

Let me be epitaphed the inventor of English hexameters.

G. Harvey.

Ep"i*taph, v. i. To write or speak after the manner of an epitaph. [R.]

The common in their speeches epitaph upon him . . . "He lived as a wolf and died as a dog."

Bp. Hall.

Ep"i*taph`er (?), n. A writer of epitaphs. Nash.

{ Ep`i*taph"i*al (?), Ep`i*taph"i*an (?), } a. Relating to, or of the nature of, an epitaph.

The noble Pericles in his epitaphian speech.

Milton.

Epitaphial Latin verses are not to be taken too literally.

Lowell.

Ep`i*taph"ic (?), a. Pertaining to an epitaph; epitaphian. -- n. An epitaph. Udall.

Ep"i*taph`ist (?), n. An epitapher.

||E*pit"a*sis (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a stretching, fr. &?; to stretch upon or over; 'epi` upon + &?; to stretch.] 1. That part which embraces the main action of a play, poem, and the like, and leads on to the catastrophe; -- opposed to protasis.

2. (Med.) The period of violence in a fever or disease; paroxysm. Dunglison.