Wordnet 3.0
NOUN (2)
1.
an inscription on a tombstone or monument in memory of the person buried there;
2.
a summary statement of commemoration for a dead person;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Epitaph \Ep"i*taph\, v. t.
To commemorate by an epitaph. [R.]
[1913 Webster]
Let me be epitaphed the inventor of English hexameters.
--G. Harvey.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Epitaph \Ep"i*taph\, v. i.
To write or speak after the manner of an epitaph. [R.]
[1913 Webster]
The common in their speeches epitaph upon him . . . "He
lived as a wolf and died as a dog." --Bp. Hall.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Epitaph \Ep"i*taph\, n. [F. ['e]pitaphe, 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.
[1913 Webster]
Hang her an epitaph upon her tomb. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. A brief writing formed as if to be inscribed on a
monument, as that concerning Alexander: "Sufficit huic
tumulus, cui non sufficeret orbis."
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
epitaph
n 1: an inscription on a tombstone or monument in memory of the
person buried there
2: a summary statement of commemoration for a dead person
The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):
EPITAPH, n. An inscription on a tomb, showing that virtues acquired
by death have a retroactive effect. Following is a touching example:
Here lie the bones of Parson Platt,
Wise, pious, humble and all that,
Who showed us life as all should live it;
Let that be said -- and God forgive it!