Words & WritingGreek → English
Epigraphy
/ɪˈpɪɡrəfi/noun
The study of inscriptions cut into stone, metal or other durable surfaces.
The Greek roots
ἐπί
epí
on, upon
γράφειν
gráphein
to write, scratch
Literally: “writing upon”
The story of the word
An ἐπιγραφή was whatever was written on a thing: the label on a jar, the title of a book, the text carved on a tomb. Because stone survives what papyrus does not, epigraphy supplies most of what we know about Athenian public finance, temple accounts and citizen lists. γράφειν first meant to scratch, which is exactly what a chisel does.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → French → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
epigramepigraphgraphiteparagraphautograph
In a sentence
Epigraphy settled the date: the letter forms belong to the second century, not the fourth.