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.
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.
[An] epitome of the contents of a very large
book.
Sydney Smith.
2. A compact or condensed representation of
anything.
An epitome of English fashionable
life.
Carlyle.
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.