Epitome (?), n.; pl. Epitomes (#). [L., fr. Gr. &unr_; a surface incision, also, and abridgment, fr. &unr_; to cut into, cut short; 'epi upon + temnein to cut: cf. F. épitome. 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.
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[An] epitome of the contents of a very large book. Sydney Smith.
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2. A compact or condensed representation of anything; something possessing conspicuously or to a high degree the qualities of a class.
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An epitome of English fashionable life. Carlyle.
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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.
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