Other forms: epigrams
An epigram is a short clever saying with a sting in it. A neat epigram, coin an epigram, epigrams and aphorisms.
The sting is what separates it from an aphorism, which can be merely wise. Wilde is the master of the form in English, and the Greek word originally meant an inscription cut on a monument.
1nounepigramA short clever saying with a sting in it.
“Oscar Wilde was famous for his witty epigrams.”
epigram is a saying.
Greek epigramma means an inscription, from epi plus graphein, to write.
Ancient Greek
ἐπίγραμμα — inscription
Latin
epigramma
Middle French
epigramme
English, today
epigram
From Middle French epigramme, from Latin epigramma, from Ancient Greek ἐπίγραμμα (“inscription”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA