■ noun
1》 a long poem narrating the deeds of heroic or legendary figures or the past history of a nation.
↘a long film, book, or other work portraying heroic deeds or covering an extended period of time.
2》 informal an extremely long and demanding task or activity.
■ adjective relating to or characteristic of an ~ or ~s.
Derivatives
~al adjective
~ally adverb
Origin
C16 (as adjective): via L. from Gk epikos , from epos 'word, song'.