Word of the Day

: January 5, 2012

epithet

noun EP-uh-thet

What It Means

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

epithet in Context

The online message board’s Terms of Service dictate that abusive language of any kind, including derogatory epithets, will result in the termination of the offending party’s account.

"The term 'RINO' (Republican In Name Only) has become an epithet of ideological enforcement…." -- From an op-ed piece by Jonah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times, December 27, 2011

Did You Know?

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.