Hypertext Webster Gateway: "epigram"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Epigram \Ep"i*gram\, n. [L. epigramma, fr. Gr. ? inscription,
epigram, fr. ? to write upon, 'epi` upon + ? to write: cf. F.
['e]pigramme. See {Graphic}.]
1. A short poem treating concisely and pointedly of a single
thought or event. The modern epigram is so contrived as to
surprise the reader with a witticism or ingenious turn of
thought, and is often satirical in character.
Dost thou think I care for a satire or an epigram?
--Shak.
Note: Epigrams were originally inscription on tombs, statues,
temples, triumphal arches, etc.
2. An effusion of wit; a bright thought tersely and sharply
expressed, whether in verse or prose.
3. The style of the epigram.
Antithesis, i. e., bilateral stroke, is the soul of
epigram in its later and technical signification.
--B. Cracroft.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
epigram
n : a witty saying [syn: {quip}]
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