Epithet, a noun, is a characterizing word or phrase used with or instead of a name. While it can be neutral, it often now refers to a derogatory or abusive term.
Epithet is a noun referring to a descriptive word or phrase, often used with a name or in place of one. While it can be neutral, it's now commonly used to mean a disparaging or abusive phrase, originating from Greek meaning 'to add.'
| Word | epithet |
|---|---|
| Date | June 12, 2018 |
| Type | noun |
| Syllables | EP-uh-thet |
| Etymology | Nowadays, epithet is usually used negatively, with the meaning "a derogatory word or phrase," but it wasn't always that way. Epithet comes to us via Latin from the Greek noun epitheton and ultimately derives from epitithenai, meaning "to put on" or "to add." In its oldest sense, an epithet is simply a descriptive word or phrase, especially one joined by fixed association to the name of someone or something (as in "Peter the Great" or the stock Homeric phrases "gray-eyed Athena" and "wine-dark sea"). Alternatively, epithets may be used in place of a name (as in "the Peacemaker" or "the Eternal"). These neutral meanings of epithet are still in use, but today the word is more often used in its negative "term of disparagement" sense. |
| Examples | The school's policy makes it clear that derogatory epithets will not be tolerated. "Herbert Hoover, who could justifiably campaign as a progressive Republican, pigeonholed Smith as an advocate of state socialism (the same epithet that a spiteful Smith would hurl at Roosevelt in 1936)." — Sam Roberts, The New York Times, 22 Apr. 2018 |
| Definition | 1 : a characterizing word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing 2 : a disparaging or abusive word or phrase 3 : the part of a taxonomic name identifying a subordinate unit within a genus |
Tags: wordoftheday::noun
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