Reference reading
ih pit uh mee
Reference reading0:00 / Listen
How to pronounce epitome
Epitome is pronounced ih-PIT-uh-mee, with four syllables, the stress on the second, and a final "ee" sound.
epitome
- IPA
- /ɪˈpɪtəmi/
- Say it like
- ih-PIT-uh-mee
ihPITuhmee
The controls above compare IPA spellings. Reference recordings are below.
US and UK use the same stress and vowels. In American English the t is usually softened into a quick flap, so PIT-uh can sound like "PID-uh".
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Compare a reference reading, a direct machine reading, and a contextual sentence. These are not separate US and UK recordings.
Direct machine reading
epitome
Direct machine reading0:00 / Listen
In a sentence
他是敬业的典范。
In a sentence0:00 / Listen
COMMON MISTAKES
How people get epitome wrong
Often heard
EP-ih-tohm
Reading the ending like the word "tome" and treating the final e as silent. The word actually has four syllables and ends in "mee".
Sayih-PIT-uh-mee
Often heard
EP-ih-toh-mee
Putting the stress on the first syllable, as in epic or episode. In epitome the stress falls on the second syllable: ih-PIT.
Sayih-PIT-uh-mee
IN A SENTENCE
Hear epitome in a sentence
With his perfect manners, he is the epitome of a gentleman.
The little seaside café was the epitome of calm.
Many critics see the film as the epitome of 1980s style.
PRACTICE
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Reference
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What does epitome mean?
Epitome means a perfect or typical example of a quality or type: "She is the epitome of kindness." It is usually followed by "of" and describes someone or something that embodies a quality to the highest degree. The related verb is epitomize (UK also epitomise), meaning "to be a perfect example of".
An older sense, still listed in dictionaries, is a brief summary or abstract of a book or text. That sense reflects the word's origin: it came into English in the early 16th century, through Latin from Greek epitomē, from epitemnein, "to cut short", made of epi, "in addition", and temnein, "to cut". An epitome was originally a shortened version of something.
FAQ
epitome pronunciation FAQ
The questions people ask most when they look up epitome.
How do you say epitome: ih-PIT-uh-mee or EP-ih-tohm?+
Ih-PIT-uh-mee. Cambridge, Oxford, Random House and American Heritage all give four syllables with the stress on the second. EP-ih-tohm comes from reading the word as epi + tome and is not a standard pronunciation.
Do Americans and Brits pronounce epitome differently?+
Not really. Both say ih-PIT-uh-mee, /ɪˈpɪtəmi/. The only common difference is that many Americans flap the t, so the middle can sound like "PID-uh".
How do you pronounce epitomize?+
Epitomize is pronounced ih-PIT-uh-myz (/ɪˈpɪtəmaɪz/), keeping the stress on PIT. The British spelling epitomise is said the same way.
Why does epitome end with an "ee" sound?+
It keeps its Greek spelling. In Greek epitomē ended in a long vowel, and English pronounces that final e as "ee", the same as in hyperbole, catastrophe and apostrophe.
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