epic

Etymology 1

From Middle French épique, from Latin epicus, from Ancient Greek ἐπικός (epikós), from ἔπος (épos, “word, story”).

noun

1. An extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a deity, demigod (heroic epic), other legend or traditional hero.
   The Icelandic epic took all night to recite.
2. A series of events considered appropriate to an epic.
   The book was an epic in four volumes.
3. (software engineering) A large or extended user story.
   Epics are shown in a separate list from user stories. This is because it is the user stories that are developed, not epics. Epics are decomposed into child user stories. 2019, Leslie Munday, Using Agile In A Quality Driven Environment, page 56

adj

1. Of or relating to an epic.
   Beowulf is an epic poem.
   The main theme of epic poetry is, of course, the hero, his life, his greatness of character, his deeds and his death. 1983, Jan Knappert, Epic Poetry in Swahili and other African Languages, page 58
2. Momentously heroic; grand in scale or character
   The epic defense was rewarded with the highest military decorations
   China's epic traffic jam "vanished" [title of article] 2010-08-25, Agence France-Presse, “China's epic traffic jam 'vanished'”, in Google News, archived from the original on 2010-08-28
3. (colloquial, slang, informal) Extending beyond the usual or ordinary.
   The after-prom party was truly epic.
   You made an epic mistake.
   Then tell him his daughter's an epic shag. 2018, Anthony McCarten, Bohemian Rhapsody (motion picture), spoken by Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek)

Etymology 2

From epi-, from Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí, “on top of”).

adj

1. (category theory, of a morphism) That is an epimorphism.