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

Examples (term to characterize)
the Terrible in Ivan the Terrible

Examples (mythology: qualifier designating an aspect of a deity)
The word Trivia in Diana Trivia, which refers to the goddess Diana in her role as protector of crossroads.

Examples (descriptive substitute)
The Young Pretender for Charles Edward Stuart

Examples (biology: part of scientific name of plants, fungi and bacteria)
In Cannabis sativa the word sativa is a specific epithet. In Festuca ovina subsp. guestphalica the word guestphalica is an infraspecific epithet.

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”.

   • 2025 January 15, Linda Feldmann, “Outside the DC jail, where Jan. 6 rage and devotion live on”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

     Counterprotesters shouted epithets as they walked by, but the opposing groups kept it nonviolent.

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; eponym, surname (archaic)

Derived terms

• epithetic
• epithetical
• epithetically
• epithetise, epithetize
• epithetism
• epithetry
• generic epithet
• species epithet
• subspecific epithet

Translations

term used to characterize a person or thing

Armenian: մակդիր (hy) (makdir) Belarusian: эпі́тэт m (epítet) Bulgarian: епитет (bg) m (epitet) Catalan: epítet (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 稱號 / 称号 (zh) (chēnghào), 綽號 / 绰号 (zh) (chuòhào), 修飾語 / 修饰语 (zh) (xiūshìyǔ) Czech: epiteton m Danish: epitet (da) c Dutch: toenaam (nl) m, epitheton (nl) n Esperanto: epiteto Finnish: mainesana, epiteetti (fi) French: épithète (fr) f Georgian: ეპითეტი (eṗiteṭi) German: Beiwort (de) n, Epitheton (de) n, Attribut (de) n, Beiname (de) m Greek: επίθετο (el) n (epítheto) Ancient: ἐπίθετον n (epítheton) Hungarian: jelző (hu), epitéta Italian: epiteto (it) m Japanese: 渾名 (ja), あだ名 (ja) (あだな, adana) Kazakh: эпитет (épitet) Latvian: epitets (lv) m Norwegian: Bokmål: epitet (no) n Nynorsk: epitet n Persian: صفت (fa) (sefat), گواسه (govâse) Polish: epitet (pl) m Portuguese: epíteto (pt) m Romanian: epitet (ro) n Russian: эпи́тет (ru) m (epítet) Slovene: pridevek m Spanish: epíteto (es) m Swedish: epitet (sv) n Tamil: அடைமொழி (ta) (aṭaimoḻi) Ukrainian: епі́тет (uk) m (epítet)

term used as a descriptive substitute for the name or title of a person

Bulgarian: прякор (bg) m (prjakor) Catalan: epítet (ca) m Danish: tilnavn n Dutch: epitheton (nl) n Finnish: epiteetti (fi), liikanimi (fi) French: épithète (fr) f German: Beiwort (de) n, Beiname (de) m, Spitzname (de) m Greek: Ancient: ἐπίθετον n (epítheton) Italian: epiteto (it) m Latvian: epitets (lv) m Polish: epitet (pl) m Tamil: அடைமொழி (ta) (aṭaimoḻi)

abusive or contemptuous word or phrase

Bulgarian: ругатня (bg) f (rugatnja) Catalan: epítet (ca) m Danish: skældsord (da) n Dutch: scheldnaam (nl) m, schimpnaam (nl) m Finnish: haukkumanimi (fi) French: épithète (fr) f German: Schimpfwort (de) n, Schimpfname (de) m Italian: epiteto (it) m Polish: epitet (pl) m Tamil: வன்சொல் (ta) (vaṉcol)

word in the scientific name of a taxon following the name of the genus or species

Dutch: epitheton (nl) n Finnish: lajinimi (following genus), alalajinimi (following species) German: Epitheton (de) n Italian: epiteto (it) m Kazakh: эпитет (épitet) Norwegian: Bokmål: epitet (no) n Nynorsk: epitet n Russian: эпи́тет (ru) m (epítet) Spanish: epíteto específico m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Japanese: (please verify) 形容詞 (ja) (けいようし, keiyōshi) Latvian: (please verify) epitets (lv) m

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".