\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.
         Hang her an epitaph upon her tomb.    --Shak.
2. A brief writing formed as if to be inscribed on a
   monument, as that concerning Alexander: ``Sufficit huic
   tumulus, cui non sufficeret orbis.''

\Ep"i*taph\, v. t.
To commemorate by an epitaph. [R.]
      Let me be epitaphed the inventor of English hexameters.
                                               --G. Harvey.

\Ep"i*taph\, v. i.
To write or speak after the manner of an epitaph. [R.]
      The common in their speeches epitaph upon him . . .
      ``He lived as a wolf and died as a dog.'' --Bp. Hall.