Ancient Greeks and Romans used the word "epigramma" (from Greek "epigraphein," meaning "to write on") to refer to a concise, witty, and often satirical verse. The Roman poet Martial (who published eleven books of these "epigrammata," or epigrams, between the years 86 and 98 AD) was a master of the form: "You puff the poets of other days, / the living you deplore. / Spare me the accolade: your praise / Is not worth dying for." English speakers adopted the "verse" sense of the word when we first used "epigram" in the 15th century. In the late 18th century, we began using "epigram" for concise, witty sayings, even if they didn't rhyme.