epic
UK/ˈɛp.ɪk/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/ˈep.ɪk/
epic noun: an extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a deity, demigod (heroic epic), other legend or traditional hero.
Noun (1)
epic (plural epics)
- An extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a deity, demigod (heroic epic), other legend or traditional hero.
- The Icelandic epic took all night to recite.
- A series of events considered appropriate to an epic; any work of literature, film, etc. having heroic deeds and adventures as its subject matter.
- The book was an epic in four volumes.
- These epics nearly always had runaway trains, nincompoops floundering with the controls and a collapsed bridge just ahead!1958 February, David Gunston, “Railways on the Screen”, in Railway Magazine, page 88
- A large or extended user story.
- Epics are shown in a separate list from user stories. This is because it is the user stories that are developed, not epics. Epics are decomposed into child user stories.2019, Leslie Munday, Using Agile In A Quality Driven Environment, page 56
Adjective (1)
epic (comparative more epic, superlative most epic)
- Of or relating to an epic.
- Beowulf is an epic poem.
- The main theme of epic poetry is, of course, the hero, his life, his greatness of character, his deeds and his death.1983, Jan Knappert, Epic Poetry in Swahili and other African Languages, page 58
- Synonyms:
- epical
- Momentously heroic; grand in scale or character.
- The epic defense was rewarded with the highest military decorations
- China's epic traffic jam "vanished" [title of article]2010 August 25, Agence France-Presse, “China's epic traffic jam 'vanished'”, in Google News, archived from the original on 28 Aug 2010
- Extending beyond the usual or ordinary.
- The after-prom party was truly epic.
- You made an epic mistake.
- Synonyms:
- extraordinary, momentous, remarkable
Adjective (2)
epic (not comparable)
- That is an epimorphism.
Noun (2) capitalized: EPIC
EPIC
- Acronym of explicitly parallel instruction computing.
- Acronym of epitaxial integrated circuit.
Proper noun capitalized: EPIC
EPIC
- Acronym of Estates and Protected Individuals Code.
- Acronym of East Plano Islamic Center.
- The Texas Rangers investigation is one of at least five announced investigations targeting EPIC or EPIC City. Those include investigations led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Texas Workforce Commission, the Texas State Board of Securities and the Texas Funeral Service Commission.2025 March 31, Adrian Ashford, “Gov. Abbott directs Texas Rangers to investigate EPIC for ‘potential criminal activities’”, in The Dallas Morning News
Adjective (3) capitalized: Epic
Epic (comparative more Epic, superlative most Epic)
- Alternative letter-case form of epic (“relating to epic poems”).
- But the absolute isolation which marks the narrative of the Bundehesh, not a trace of any analogous record being found either in the Zend-Avesta or in the Epic tradition, as collected by Firdouzi, Ḫamza, and the other writers of the Musselman epoch, is of a nature to inspire great doubts in regard...1882 [1880], François Lenormant, translated by Francis Brown, The Beginnings of History According to the Bible and the Traditions of the Oriental Peoples: From the Creation of Man to the Deluge, page...
- Egil’s Saga, I think, one cannot at present obtain at all, and the Saga of the Laxdale men I only possess in Latin. These and the rest are truly Epic narratives, the Odysseys of a ruder race than the Achæans.1890 November, Andrew Lang, “At the Sign of the Ship”, in Longman’s Magazine, volume 17, number 97, page 107
- Pertaining to a dialect characteristic of epic poems, especially Epic Greek.
- Every δῆμος [dêmos] had one or more towns (πόλεις [poleis]), and accordingly for the complete description of the land, usual in the Epic phraseology, both expressions are commonly united […]1880 [1855], Georg Friedrich Schömann, translated by E. G. Hard and J. S. Mann, The Antiquities of Greece, volume 1, page 66
- The first syllable is lengthened, as the antistrophic line […] shows, an Epic scansion in accordance with the Epic phrase […]1957, Herbert Jennings Rose, A Commentary on the Surviving Plays of Aeschylus […], page 94, note 80
Noun (3) capitalized: Epic
Epic (plural Epics)
- Alternative letter-case form of epic (“extended narrative poem”); especially a poem within a particular tradition of epics.
- He calls for a special kind of instrument, bearing a name which smacks of the Norse Epics—a “Nibling.”1881, “Pekin” [Louis Kossuth Lawrie], In the C.P.; or, Sketches in Prose & in Verse, Descriptive of Scenes and Manners in the Central Provinces of India, page 180
- Compare Milton’s Epics with the other great Epics of the world.1882, “Hilary Term: Senior Sophisters—Modern Literature”, in Dublin Examination Papers […], page 12
epic meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
epic in Hindi
- extended narrative poem
- महाकाव्य mahākāvya
epic in Marathi
- महाकाव्य
epic in Urdu
- مہاکاوی
epic in Bengali
- extended narrative poem
- মহাকাব্য mohakabbo
More languagesFewer languages
- epic in Telugu
- మహాకావ్యం
- epic in Malayalam
- ഐതിഹാസിക aitihāsika
- epic in Kannada
- ಮಹಾಕಾವ್ಯ, ಮಹಾಕಾವ್ಯಂಶ, ಮಹಾಕಾವ್ಯವೊಂದರ
- epic in Punjabi
- ਮਹਾਂਕਾਵਿ
- epic in Gujarati
- મહાકાવ્ય
- epic in Odia
- ମହାକାବ୍ଯ଼, ମହାକାବ୍ଯ
- epic in Sanskrit
- महाकाव्य mahākāvya, इतिहास itihāsa
- epic in Nepali
- महाकाव्य, एपिक
- epic in Tagalog
- darangan, epika, epiko
- epic in Arabic
- مَلْحَمَة malḥama, مَلْحَمِيّ malḥamiyy
- epic in Malay
- epik
- epic in Indonesian
- epik, epos, wiracarita
- epic in Thai
- มหากาพย์ má-hǎa-gàap, สูงส่ง sǔung-sòng
- epic in Vietnamese
- sử thi
- epic in Myanmar
- ပျို့ pyui.
Examples of epic in a sentence
- After all, Epic Fury captures the Trump presidency in its essence.2026 March 16, Peter Baker, “In Choosing ‘Epic Fury,’ Trump Names a War and Defines His Presidency”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y....
- Then tell him his daughter's an epic shag.2018, Anthony McCarten, Bohemian Rhapsody (motion picture), spoken by Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek):
Synonyms of epic
Forms of epic
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | epics |
| plural | Epics |
| alternative form (obsolete) | epick |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more epic |
| superlative | most epic |
| comparative | more Epic |
| superlative | most Epic |
Origin of epic
From Middle French épique, from Latin epicus, from Ancient Greek ἐπικός (epikós), from ἔπος (épos, “word, story”).
From epi-, from Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí, “on top of”).
Words formed from epic
Phrases with epic
Questions about epic
- What does epic mean?
- Epic means an extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a deity, demigod (heroic epic), other legend or traditional hero.
- What is epic in Hindi?
- Epic in Hindi is महाकाव्य (mahākāvya). See Epic meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use epic in a sentence?
- After all, Epic Fury captures the Trump presidency in its essence.
- What part of speech is epic?
- Epic can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce epic?
- Epic is pronounced /ˈɛp.ɪk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of epic?
- The plural of epic is epics.
Words near epic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: epic (page history and authors); EPIC (page history and authors); Epic (page history and authors); epic (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); epic (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); epic (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); epic (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); epic (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); epic (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); epic (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); epic (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-epic.ogg.
Cite this entry: “epic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/epic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.