An inscription on a grave or tomb in memory of the one buried there.
Example:
The great English architect Christopher Wren designed London's majestic St. Paul's Cathedral, the site of his tomb and epitaph: "Si monumentum requiris, circumspice" ("If you seek my monument, look around you").
Epitaph includes the root from the Greek word taphos, "tomb" or "funeral." Traditionally, epitaph refers to a tombstone inscription, but it can also refer to brief memorial statements that resemble such inscriptions. One of the most famous is Henry Lee's epitaph for George Washington: "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of this countrymen."