Is there a name for ...

[AlexBell]

the short text or quotation at the front of many books from the 18th and 19th centuries, often on the title page or on a page by itself? It does not appear in the Table of Contents or the index. An example is the verse by Wordsworth on the title page of an edition of Adam Bede by George Eliot.

[Cheval]

I think it's called an epigraph.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Cheval

I think it's called an epigraph.

You think correctly:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epigraph

a quotation set at the beginning of a literary work or one of its divisions to suggest its theme

Origin and Etymology of epigraph
Greek epigraphē, from epigraphein

[AlexBell]

Many thanks to you both. Somehow I had it fixed in my mind that an epigraph went at the end of a book, but that of course is an epilogue.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

Many thanks to you both. Somehow I had it fixed in my mind that an epigraph went at the end of a book, but that of course is an epilogue.

It *is*confusing, what with the prologue---epilogue duo being more common these days.
These days epigrams are more common in nonfiction than fiction.

[SleepyBob]

Great, now I had to go google the difference between epigram and epigraph.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by SleepyBob

Great, now I had to go google the difference between epigram and epigraph.

Sorry.
It was a typo, anyway.
But the stuff really is confusingly similar.
Epigram, epigraph, epilogue, episode, epiphany, epifanio...

[drjenkins]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

But the stuff really is confusingly similar.
Epigram, epigraph, epilogue, episode, epiphany, epifanio...

...epinephrine

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by drjenkins

...epinephrine

Arggghh!

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by drjenkins

...epinephrine

There are a gazillion medical terms beginning with 'epi'.

[issybird]

Epilator. Ouch.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by issybird

Epilator. Ouch.

Epididymitis and episiotomy (ouch and ouch)

[astrangerhere]

From the Online Etymology Dictionary:

epigraph (n.)

1620s, "inscription on a building, statue, etc.," from Greek epigraphe "an inscription," from epigraphein "to mark the surface, just pierce; write on, inscribe; to register; inscribe one's name, endorse," from epi "on" (see epi-) + graphein "to write" (see -graphy). Sense of "motto; short, pithy sentence at the head of a book or chapter" first recorded in English 1844.

versus

epigram (n.)

also epigramme, mid-15c., from Middle French épigramme, from Latin epigramma "an inscription," from Greek epigramma "inscription (especially in verse) on a tomb, public monument, etc.; a written estimate," from epigraphein "to write on, inscribe" (see epigraph). "The term was afterward extended to any little piece of verse expressing with precision a delicate or ingenious thought"

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

From the Online Etymology Dictionary:



versus

As in: "short, pithy sentence at the head of a book or chapter" vs "any little piece of verse expressing with precision a delicate or ingenious thought".

Oh, my aching etymology!

(Back in the day, my hometown had a trio of scattered electronics stores named "Epi" and later "EpiTronics". Lots of Epi-somethings scattered across my neurons. It's both good and bad.)

[4691mls]

I suppose one could use an epigram as an epigraph...