I. ep ‧ ic 1 /ˈepɪk/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
a book, poem, or film that tells a long story about brave actions and exciting events:
a Hollywood epic
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THESAURUS
▪ story a description of how something happened that is intended to entertain people, and may be true or imaginary:
a ghost story
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a love story
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It’s a story about a man who loses his memory.
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a book of short stories
▪ tale a story about strange imaginary events, or exciting events that happened in the past:
a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen
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I loved hearing tales of his travels.
▪ myth noun [uncountable and countable] a very old imaginary story about gods and magical creatures:
an ancient myth
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Greek and Roman myths
▪ legend noun [uncountable and countable] an old story about brave people or magical events that are probably not true:
popular legends of the creation of the world
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According to legend, King Arthur was buried there.
▪ fable a traditional imaginary short story that teaches a moral lesson, especially a story about animals:
the fable of the tortoise and the hare
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a Chinese fable
▪ epic a story told in a long book, film, or poem which is about great or exciting events, especially in history:
an epic about 13th-century Scottish hero William Wallace
▪ saga a story about a series of events that take place over a long period of time, especially events involving one family:
a family saga beginning in the 1880s
▪ yarn informal a long exciting story that is not completely true:
The movie’s a rattling good yarn and full of action.
II. epic 2 BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: epicus , from Greek epikos , from epos 'word, speech, poem' ]
1 . an epic book, poem, or film tells a long story about brave actions and exciting events:
an epic tale of mutiny on the high seas
epic poetry
2 . an epic event continues for a long time and involves brave or exciting actions:
his epic journey to South America
3 . very large and impressive:
He had produced a meal of epic proportions.