epitaph
    n 1: an inscription on a tombstone or monument in memory of the
         person buried there
    2: a summary statement of commemoration for a dead person

Epitaph \Ep"i*taph\, v. t.
   To commemorate by an epitaph. [R.]
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         Let me be epitaphed the inventor of English hexameters.
                                                  --G. Harvey.
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Epitaph \Ep"i*taph\, v. i.
   To write or speak after the manner of an epitaph. [R.]
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         The common in their speeches epitaph upon him . . . "He
         lived as a wolf and died as a dog."      --Bp. Hall.
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Epitaph \Ep"i*taph\, n. [F. ['e]pitaphe, L. epitaphium a funeral
   oration, fr. Gr. ?, orig. an adj., over or at a tomb; 'epi`
   upon + ? tomb. Cf. Cenotaph.]
   1. An inscription on, or at, a tomb, or a grave, in memory or
      commendation of the one buried there; a sepulchral
      inscription.
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            Hang her an epitaph upon her tomb.    --Shak.
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   2. A brief writing formed as if to be inscribed on a
      monument, as that concerning Alexander: "Sufficit huic
      tumulus, cui non sufficeret orbis."
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EPITAPH, n.  An inscription on a tomb, showing that virtues acquired
by death have a retroactive effect.  Following is a touching example:

    Here lie the bones of Parson Platt,
    Wise, pious, humble and all that,
    Who showed us life as all should live it;
    Let that be said -- and God forgive it!