Is there an official name for a book's "opening quote"?

June 30, 2008 12:48 PM

What do you call the opening quotes that often preface a novel? Many thrillers, mysteries, and what-have-you include a single quote in the book's front matter, something to capture the story's essence or set the stage. Sometimes these quotes are literary, and sometimes they're drawn from pop culture figures. But other than "opening quote," is there an official name? All the other pages and parts of a book have a formal name, but what about the quote?
posted by jackypaper to writing & language (3 comments total)

Epigraph?
posted by box at 12:55 PM on June 30, 2008

The term for that is epigraph.
posted by shesbookish at 12:55 PM on June 30, 2008

Thirding epigraph.
posted by badmoonrising at 4:27 PM on June 30, 2008