3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Epithet  \Ep"i*thet\,  v.  t. 
  To  describe  by  an  epithet.  [R.] 
 
  Never  was  a  town  better  epitheted  --Sir  H. 
  Wotton. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Epithet  \Ep"i*thet\,  n.  [L.  epitheton  Gr  ?,  fr  ?  added,  fr  ? 
  to  add  'epi`  upon  to  +  ?  to  put  place:  cf  F. 
  ['e]pith[`e]te.  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.  ``Stiffed  with  epithets  of 
  war.''  --Shak. 
 
  Syn:  {Epithet},  {Title}. 
 
  Usage:  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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  epithet 
  n  1:  a  defamatory  or  abusive  word  or  phrase;  "sticks  and  stones 
  may  break  my  bones  but  names  can  never  hurt  me"  [syn:  {name}] 
  2:  descriptive  word  or  phrase 

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