'epigrammatize' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'epigramma', where 'epi-' meant 'upon' and 'graphein' meant 'to write.'

'epigramma' (Greek) passed into Late Latin and Old French as 'epigramme' and then into Middle English as 'epigram'; in modern English the noun 'epigram' combined with the verb-forming suffix '-matize' to create 'epigrammatize.'

Initially the root referred to an 'inscription' or 'written upon' (an epigram as an inscription), then to a short witty poem or remark, and it evolved into the verb meaning 'to make into an epigram' or 'to express wittily and concisely.'