what is the word for quotations that start a chapter or section of a book or paper? i think it begins with a ‘p’, but i can’t remember what it is. perhaps it’s latin?
The word you’re searching for wouldn’t be epigram by an chance, would it?
That’s not the definition of an epigram, but if I’m understanding what it is you’re describing, those little “here’s something to have in the back of your head while you read this” quotes often are epigrams, or have at least become epigrammatic through over-use and whittling down from their original wording.
Hope this helps.
Epigram? Why not epigraph, defined as “A motto or quotation, as at the beginning of a literary composition, setting forth a theme.”
I obviously turned one too few pages.
Thanks, maralinn. That was, in fact, exactly the word I was looking for to suggest, but found one that was close and, …
oh, hell … screwed up I guess covers it.
