epithet

Meaning

Noun

1. A term used to characterize a person or thing.
2. 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.
6. 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.

Verb

To term; to refer to as.

Synonyms

appellation

name

sobriquet

nickname

cognomen

byname

designation

moniker

attribute

surname

alias

tag

pearl barley

pseudonym

adjective

Translations

épithète

epiteto

epitheton

Epitheton

epíteto

Beiwort

epíteto

nomignolo

surnom

apelido

sobriquet

nom

Spitzname

epítet

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɛp.ɪˌθɛt/

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”)). Doublet of epitheton.