Ep"i*thet (?), n. [L. epitheton,
Gr. &?;, fr. &?; added, fr. &?; to add; 'epi` upon, to +
&?; to put, place: cf. F. épithète. See
Do.] 1. An adjective expressing some
quality, attribute, or relation, that is properly or specially
appropriate to a person or thing; as, a just man; a
verdant lawn.
A prince [Henry III.] to whom the epithet
"worthless" seems best applicable.
Hallam.
2. Term; expression; phrase. "Stuffed
with epithets of war." Shak.
Syn. -- Epithet, Title. The name
epithet was formerly extended to nouns which give a title or
describe character (as the "epithet of liar"), but is now
confined wholly to adjectives. Some rhetoricians, as Whately,
restrict it still further, considering the term epithet as
belonging only to a limited class of adjectives, viz., those which
add nothing to the sense of their noun, but simply hold forth some
quality necessarily implied therein; as, the bright sun, the
lofty heavens, etc. But this restriction does not prevail in
general literature. Epithet is sometimes confounded with
application, which is always a noun or its equivalent.
Ep"i*thet, v. t. To describe by an
epithet. [R.]
Never was a town better epitheted.
Sir H. Wotton.
