epithet definition | Dictionary.com

ep⋅i⋅thet

[ep-uh-thet]

–noun

1.	any word or phrase applied to a person or thing to describe an actual or attributed quality: “Richard the Lion-Hearted” is an epithet of Richard I.

2.	a characterizing word or phrase firmly associated with a person or thing and often used in place of an actual name, title, or the like, as “man's best friend” for “dog.”

3.	a word, phrase, or expression used invectively as a term of abuse or contempt, to express hostility, etc.

Origin:
1570–80; < L epitheton epithet, adjective < Gk epítheton epithet, something added, equiv. to epi- epi- + the- (var. s. of tithénai to put) + -ton neut. verbid suffix

Related forms:

ep⋅i⋅thet⋅ic, ep⋅i⋅thet⋅i⋅cal, adjective

Synonyms:
1, 2. nickname, sobriquet, designation, appellation. 3. curse, insult, abuse, expletive, obscenity.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ep·i·thet (ěp'ə-thět')

1. A term used to characterize a person or thing, such as rosy-fingered in rosy-fingered dawn or the Great in Catherine the Great.
2. A term used as a descriptive substitute for the name or title of a person, such as The Great Emancipator for Abraham Lincoln.
An abusive or contemptuous word or phrase.
Biology A word in the scientific name of an animal or plant following the name of the genus and denoting a species, variety, or other division of the genus, as sativa in Lactuca sativa.

[Latin epitheton, from Greek, neuter of epithetos, added, attributed, from epitithenai, epithe-, to add to : epi-, epi- + tithenai, to place; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.]
ep'i·thet'ic, ep'i·thet'i·cal adj.

Usage Note: Strictly speaking, an epithet need not be derogatory, but the term is commonly used as a simple synonym for term of abuse or slur, as in There is no place for racial epithets in a police officer's vocabulary. This usage is accepted by 80 percent of the Usage Panel.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Epithet

Ep"i*thet\, n. [L. epitheton, Gr. ?, fr. ? added, fr. ? to add; 'epi` upon, to + ? to put, place: cf. F. ['e]pith[`e]te. See Do.]

1. An adjective expressing some quality, attribute, or relation, that is properly or specially appropriate to a person or thing; as, a just man; a verdant lawn.

A prince [Henry III.] to whom the epithet "worthless" seems best applicable. --Hallam.

2. Term; expression; phrase. "Stiffed with epithets of war." --Shak.

Syn: Epithet, Title.

Usage: The name epithet was formerly extended to nouns which give a title or describe character (as the "epithet of liar"), but is now confined wholly to adjectives. Some rhetoricians, as Whately, restrict it still further, considering the term epithet as belonging only to a limited class of adjectives, viz., those which add nothing to the sense of their noun, but simply hold forth some quality necessarily implied therein; as, the bright sun, the lofty heavens, etc. But this restriction does not prevail in general literature. Epithet is sometimes confounded with application, which is always a noun or its equivalent.

Epithet

Ep"i*thet\, v. t. To describe by an epithet. [R.]

Never was a town better epitheted. --Sir H. Wotton.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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epithet

1579, "descriptive name for a person or thing," from L. from Gk. epitheton, adj. often used as n., from neut. of epithetos "attributed, added," from epitithenai "to add on," from epi- "in addition" + tithenai "to put," from PIE base *dhe- "to put, to do" (see factitious).

Main Entry: ep·i·thet
Pronunciation: 'ep-&-"thet also -th&t
Function: noun
: the part of a scientific name identifying thespecies, variety, or other subunit within a genus —see SPECIFIC EPITHET

epithet

an adjective or phrase that is used to express the characteristic of a person or thing, such as Ivan the Terrible. In literature, the term is considered an element of poetic diction, or something that distinguishes the language of poetry from ordinary language. Homer used certain epithets so regularly that they became a standard part of the name of the thing or person described, as in "rosy-fingered Dawn" and "gray-eyed Athena." The device was used by many later poets, including John Keats in his sonnet "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer": Oft of one wide expanse had I been toldThat deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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