From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Epitome \E*pit"o*me\, n.; pl. Epitomes. [L., fr. Gr. ? a
surface incision, also, and abridgment, fr. ? to cut into,
cut short; 'epi` upon + te`mnein to cut: cf. F. ['e]pitome.
See Tome.]
1. A work in which the contents of a former work are reduced
within a smaller space by curtailment and condensation; a
brief summary; an abridgement.
[1913 Webster]
[An] epitome of the contents of a very large book.
--Sydney
Smith.
[1913 Webster]
2. A compact or condensed representation of anything;
something possessing conspicuously or to a high degree the
qualities of a class.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
An epitome of English fashionable life. --Carlyle.
[1913 Webster]
A man so various that he seemed to be
Not one, but all mankind's epitome. --Dryden.
Syn: Abridgement; compendium; compend; abstract; synopsis;
abbreviature. See Abridgment.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
epitome
n 1: a standard or typical example; "he is the prototype of good
breeding"; "he provided America with an image of the good
father" [syn: prototype, paradigm, epitome, image]
2: a brief abstract (as of an article or book)