epithet

English

Etymology

From Middle French épithète, from Latin epithetum, epitheton, from Ancient Greek ἐπίθετον (epítheton, “epithet, adjective”), the neuter of ἐπίθετος (epíthetos, “additional”), from ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi, “to add on”), from ἐπι- (epi-, “in addition”) +‎ τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put”) (suf. possibly related to title in the sense of "ascribed appellation") (from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, to do”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛp.ɪˌθɛt/, /ˈɛp.əˌθɛt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ep‧i‧thet

Noun

epithet (plural epithets)

1. A term used to characterize a person or thing.
   • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Romance and Reality. , volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, , →OCLC, page 130:

     She would lean her head for hours on Beatrice's shoulder, only now and then applying to her some childish and endearing epithet.

2. (mythology) A term used as a qualifier of the name of a deity in order to designate said deity in a particular aspect or role.
3. A term used as a descriptive substitute for the name or title of a person.
4. One of many formulaic words or phrases used in the Iliad and Odyssey to characterize a person, a group of people, or a thing.
5. An abusive or contemptuous word or phrase.
   • 2006, Eric L. Goldstein, The Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race, and American Identity:

     Part of this process was the elaboration of new terms for the Jew, especially the increasingly popular epithet “kike”.

6. (taxonomy) A word in the scientific name of a taxon following the name of the genus or species. This applies only to formal names of plants, fungi and bacteria. In formal names of animals the corresponding term is the specific name.

Synonyms

• (descriptive substitute): cognomen

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

epithet (third-person singular simple present epithets, present participle epitheting, simple past and past participle epitheted)

1. (transitive) To term; to refer to as.

   He was epitheted "the king of fools".