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.
      
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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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