Epitome, n.; pl. Epitomes.
Etymology: [L., fr. Gr. épitome. 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. [An] epitome of the contents of a very large book. Sydney Smith.
2. A compact or condensed representation of anything. An epitome of English fashionable life. Carlyle. 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.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for epitome; he lists it under abridgment.
Where he writes about it:
An epitome, compend, or compendium is a condensed view of a subject, whether derived from a previous publication or not. — from abridgment
We may have an epitome of religion, a compendium of English literature, but not an abridgment. — from abridgment
Antonyms
none given