Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Inscriptions considered as a group.
  • noun The study of inscriptions.
  • noun Decipherment, especially of ancient inscriptions.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The study or knowledge of epigraphs; that branch of knowledge which deals with the deciphering and explanation of inscriptions; epigraphics.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The science of inscriptions; the art of engraving inscriptions or of deciphering them.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun inscriptions collectively
  • noun the study or decipherment of inscriptions, especially of ancient ones

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the study of ancient inscriptions

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

epi- + -graphy

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Examples

  • His fourth expedition took place in 1892-94, and was fruitful and rich in Arabic epigraphy.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 1: Aachen-Assize 1840-1916 1913

  • "Some have proposed it as another reference to 2012, but I remain rather unconvinced," David Stuart, a specialist in Mayan epigraphy at the University of Texas at Austin, said in a message to The Associated Press.

    Mayan 2012 Prophesy: Mexico Finds Second Reference Among Ruins 2011

  • OK, sometimes it's epigraphy, but hey, first they came for the palæographers, then the epigraphers ALL the TIME.

    Making Light: Boomdeyada boomdeyada boomdeyada boomdeyada 2010

  • According to our epigraphy expert, Prof.Dr. Werner Eck from the University of Köln in Germany, the small, regular letters hint at a date in the 2nd century AD.

    Stone Studies « Interactive Dig Sagalassos – City in the Clouds 2009

  • His research interests are mainly focused on Greek epigraphy, the archaeology of the landscape, and Early Iron Age Crete.

    Meet the Team « Interactive Dig Crete – Zominthos Project 2009

  • Mukunda Madhava Sharma made wide-ranging contributions to Sanskrit literature, especially in the realms of poetry and poetics, history and epigraphy.

    Archive 2009-11-01 Rus Bowden 2009

  • To date, witnesses have included antiquities dealers, museum curators, experts and professors of archaeology, history, epigraphy and chemical isotopes from leading universities and museums in Israel and around the world.

    Archive 2008-10-01 Jan 2008

  • To date, witnesses have included antiquities dealers, museum curators, experts and professors of archaeology, history, epigraphy and chemical isotopes from leading universities and museums in Israel and around the world.

    The Story That Will Not Die Jan 2008

  • So you take the archaeology, then you take the epigraphy, you take the texts, you take the statistics -- I've heard all kinds of people, like Professor Dever, giving opinions.

    CNN Transcript Feb 28, 2007 2007

  • Two revolutions have shaped the study of the Trojan War in the last two decades, one in archaeology and the other in epigraphy the study of inscriptions.

    The Trojan War Barry Strauss 2006

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