Editing Epigram (section)

{{Short description|Brief memorable statement}}
{{hatnote group|
{{Other uses}}
{{Distinguish|Epigraph (disambiguation){{!}}Epigraph}}
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[[File:Quodlibets Epigrams.JPG|thumb|[[Robert Hayman]]'s 1628 book ''Quodlibets'' devotes much of its text to epigrams.]]

An '''epigram''' is a brief, interesting, memorable, sometimes surprising or [[satirical]] statement. The word derives from the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] {{lang|grc|ἐπίγραμμα}} ({{Transliteration|grc|epígramma}}, "inscription", from {{lang|grc|ἐπιγράφειν}} [{{Transliteration|grc|epigráphein}}], "to write on, to inscribe").<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=epigram "epigram"]. ''[[Online Etymology Dictionary]]''.</ref> This [[literary device]] has been practiced for over two millennia.

The presence of [[wit]] or [[sarcasm]] tends to distinguish non-poetic epigrams from [[aphorisms]] and [[adage]]s, which typically do not show those qualities.