epithet

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈɛpɪˌθɛt/ UK /ˈɛpɪθɛt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a descriptive word or phrase characterizing a person or thing, often abusive

Critics hurled every epithet they could think of at the disgraced minister.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a descriptive word or... appellation designation sobriquet nickname titlebynameslur

Word family

Derived forms epitheticepithetical

Etymology

From Latin epitheton, from Ancient Greek epítheton ('something added, attributed'), neuter of epíthetos, from epitithénai ('to add, place upon'), from epi- ('upon') + tithénai ('to put').

epitheton Latin ἐπίθετον Ancient Greek τιθέναι Ancient Greek

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# epithet

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɛpɪˌθɛt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɛpɪθɛt/

## Meanings
1. a descriptive word or phrase characterizing a person or thing, often abusive

## Examples
- Critics hurled every epithet they could think of at the disgraced minister.

## Synonyms
- appellation
- designation
- sobriquet
- nickname
- title
- byname
- slur

## Derived Forms
- epithetic
- epithetical

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: epitheton
- Root: ἐπίθετον
- Root: τιθέναι

## Etymology
From Latin epitheton, from Ancient Greek epítheton ('something added, attributed'), neuter of epíthetos, from epitithénai ('to add, place upon'), from epi- ('upon') + tithénai ('to put').

## AI Etymology
Epithet comes from Latin epitheton, from Ancient Greek epítheton ('something added, attributed'), neuter of epíthetos, from epitithénai ('to add, place upon'), from epi- ('upon') + tithénai ('to put'). Morphologically, the form is compositional: epi- marks part of the visible structure, while the remaining element supplies the lexical base. In present use, it is used as a noun meaning "a descriptive word or phrase characterizing a person or thing, often abusive", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes derivatives such as epithetic and epithetical, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include Latin epitheton, Ancient Greek ἐπίθετον, and Ancient Greek τιθέναι, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance. Its semantic neighborhood includes appellation, designation, sobriquet, and nickname, locating the modern specialization without adding a new origin story.

## Topics
- People & Society

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