epithet.
A term used to characterize a person or thing.
Meaning & usage
A term used to characterize a person or thing.
A term used as a qualifier of the name of a deity in order to designate said deity in a particular aspect or role.
A term used as a descriptive substitute for the name or title of a person.
One of many formulaic words or phrases used in the Iliad and Odyssey to characterize a person, a group of people, or a thing.
An abusive or contemptuous word or phrase.
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.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épi Proto-Hellenic *epí Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí) Ancient Greek ἐπῐ- (epĭ-) Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *dʰédʰeh₁ti Ancient Greek τῐ́θημῐ (tĭ́thēmĭ) Ancient Greek ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi) Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Hellenic *-tós Ancient Greek -τος (-tos) Ancient Greek ἐπίθετος (epíthetos) Proto-Indo-European *-om Proto-Hellenic *-on Ancient Greek -ον (-on) Ancient Greek ἐπίθετον (epítheton)lbor. Latin epithetonder. Middle French épithèteder. English epithet 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.
To term; to refer to as.
He was epitheted "the king of fools".
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épi Proto-Hellenic *epí Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí) Ancient Greek ἐπῐ- (epĭ-) Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *dʰédʰeh₁ti Ancient Greek τῐ́θημῐ (tĭ́thēmĭ) Ancient Greek ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi) Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Hellenic *-tós Ancient Greek -τος (-tos) Ancient Greek ἐπίθετος (epíthetos) Proto-Indo-European *-om Proto-Hellenic *-on Ancient Greek -ον (-on) Ancient Greek ἐπίθετον (epítheton)lbor. Latin epithetonder. Middle French épithèteder. English epithet 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.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.