Plural of epigraph; short quotations or inscriptions, especially those engraved on monuments or placed at the beginning of a book.
From Greek epi- (upon) + graphein (to write); the word originally meant inscriptions cut into stone, but now refers to any brief quoted text with special meaning.
Many famous authors use epigraphs at the start of books like mini-signs saying 'this is the mood you're about to enter'—T.S. Eliot and Toni Morrison use them brilliantly to set up what's coming.
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