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more about epithet
epithet |
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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