Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.

            [An] epitome of the contents of a very large book.
                                                  --Sydney
                                                  Smith.

   2. A compact or condensed representation of anything.

            An epitome of English fashionable life. --Carlyle.

            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}.

Source : WordNet®

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}, {image}]
     2: a brief abstract (as of an article or book)