epithet

Definition

A term used to characterize a person or thing.

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.

Example Sentences

• "She would lean her head for hours on Beatrice's shoulder, only now and then applying to her some childish and endearing epithet."
• "Part of this process was the elaboration of new terms for the Jew, especially the increasingly popular epithet “kike”."
• "Counterprotesters shouted epithets as they walked by, but the opposing groups kept it nonviolent."