The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Epitome \E*pit"o*me\, n.; pl. Epitomes. [L., fr. Gr. ? a
   surface incision, also, and abridgment, fr. ? to cut into,
   cut short; 'epi` upon + te`mnein to cut: cf. F. ['e]pitome.
   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.
      [1913 Webster]

            [An] epitome of the contents of a very large book.
                                                  --Sydney
                                                  Smith.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. 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]