Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
📖 A short quotation 🪙 A coin inscription
exergue

exergue

9.9
A short quote placed at the start of a book or chapter to show its theme
  • noun
  • /ˈɛksərˌɡ/
  • Literature
translation icon : exergue
  • The novel opens with an exergue that beautifully encapsulates its central theme of loss.

Examples

  • Each chapter begins with an exergue that highlights the key message the author wishes to convey.

  • In her autobiography, the author included an exergue from her favorite poem that inspired her life choices.

  • Noventa's exergue resonates through the volume, reminding us that the invitation to behave unethically is always close at hand.

    Academic text (2017)

Synonyms

epigraph
vsexergue
  • Literature
1 8.4

A short quote at the start of a book or chapter that shows its main idea

is the shorter quotation form used at the start to hint the theme

Surface Forms

exergue singular
exergues plural

Etymology

Exergue comes from French and includes the familiar prefix ex- 'out', which helps you remember it as a short line placed apart from the main text. A helpful way to think of an exergue is as a small 'opening note' or quotation that sets the theme of a book or chapter.