Linguistics

An epithet (Greek and Latin epitheton; literally meaning 'imposed' ) is a descriptive word or lapidary phrase, often metaphoric, that is essentially a reduced or condensed appositive. Epithets are sometimes attached to a person's name, as what might be described as a glorified nickname. Not every adjective is an epithet, even worn clichés. An epithet is linked to its noun by long-established usage and some are not otherwise employed. Broadly conceived, linguistics is the study of human language, and a linguist is someone who engages in this study. ... In language, a metaphor is a rhetorical trope where a comparison is made between two seemingly unrelated subjects. ... In grammar, an appositive is defined as a noun phrase that generally follows, but occasionally precedes, another noun phrase and renames or describes it. ... Clich (from French, imitative) refers to: an overused phrase or expression, or the idea expressed by it; a situation, theme or characterization which has become common; a thing (as a style of clothing) that has become overly familiar or commonplace. ...

Some epithets are known by the Latin term epitheton necessarium because they are required to distinguish the bearers, e.g. as an alternative to ordinals after a prince's name - say Richard the Lionheart, or Charles the Fat alongside Charles the Bald. Still the same epithet can be used repeatedly, in different spheres of life and/or joined to different names, say Alexander the Great as well as Suleiman the Great. Richard I of England, as a bronze, brandishes his sword outside the Palace of Westminster Richard I (September 8, 1157 - April 6, 1199) was King of England from 1189 to 1199. ... Charles the Fat (in French: Charles le Gros) ( 832–January 13, 888) was a King of France and, as Charles III, Holy Roman Emperor. ... Charles the Bald (Charles II of France and Holy Roman Emperor Charles II) (823_877), Roman emperor and king of the West Franks, was the son of the emperor Louis the Pious and his second wife Judith. ... Bust of Alexander III in the British Museum. ...

Other epithets can easily be omitted without serious risk of confusion, and are therefore known (again in Latin) as Epitheton ornans; thus the classical Roman author Virgil systematically called the armsbearer of Aeneas, his main hero, fidus Achates, the epithet being fidus, which means faithful or loyal. In contemporary usage, an epithet often is an abusive or defamatory phrase.

There are also specific types of epithets, such as the kenning, also known as periapsis, which appears in works such as Beowulf. An example of a kenning would be the term whale-road. The first page of Beowulf This article describes Beowulf, the epic poem. ...

Religion

In Ancient Pagan religions, not only Greek and Roman (e.g. Egyptian), a deity's epithet (or rather each one : especially the main gods often had many) generally reflected a particular aspect of that god's life and role, as Apollo Musagetes is "Apollo, [as] leader of the Muses" and therefore patron of the arts & sciences (hence the word mouseion = museum !), while Phoibos Apollo is the same deity but as shining sun-god. Some epithets were applied to several deities, rather accidentally if they had a common characteristic, or deliberately emphasizing their blood- or other ties; thus in pagan Rome, several divinities (including heroes) were given the epitheton Comes as companion of another (usually major) divinity. Alternatively the epithet may identify a particular and localized aspect of the god, sometimes already ancient during the classical epochs of Greece and/or Rome, such as a reference to the mythological place of birth or other genesis. It often appears to refer simply to a main center of veneration and/or some cultic tradition there, but often this is actually the result of an intercultural equation of a divinity with another, usually older, that is generally considered its pendant; thus most Roman gods and goddesses, especially the twelve main ones, had traditional counterparts in Greek, Etruscan and most other Mediterranean pantheons : Jupiter as father of the Gods with Zeus, Mercury as divine messenger with Hermes, etc., but in specific cult places there may even be a different equation, based on one specific aspect of the divinity. Similar practices still exist in Christianity (catholic and orthodox, not protestant) in the veneration of Christ and, mainly, of the saints, e.g. Our Lady of Lourdes, - of Mercy etc. Worship Apollo is considered to have dominion over the plague, light, healing, colonists, medicine, archery, poetry, prophecy, dance, reason, intellectualism and as the patron defender of herds and flocks. ... For other uses see Muse (disambiguation). ...

Letters

Epithets are characteristic of the style of ancient epic poetry, most notably that of Homer. See epithets in Homer. When James Joyce uses the phrase "the snot-green sea" he is playing on Homer's familiar epithet "the wine-dark sea" with a kind of mock-epithet. The epic is a broadly defined genre of poetry, which retells in a continuous narrative the life and works of a heroic or mythological person or group of persons. ... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... Epithets in Homer. ... James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (February 2, 1882 – January 13, 1941) was an expatriate Irish writer and poet, and is widely considered one of the most significant writers of the 20th century. ...

Taxonomy/Biology

An epithet is a word in the scientific name of an animal or plant, following the name of the genus and denoting a species, variety, or other division of the genus, e.g. the specific epithet. Taxonomy (from Greek ταξινομία (taxinomia) from the words taxis = order and nomos = law) may refer to either a hierarchical classification of things, or the principles underlying the classification. ... Main article: Life There are many universal units and common processes that are fundamental to the known forms of life. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is a standard convention used for naming species. ... See genus (mathematics) for the use of the term in mathematics. ... In biology, a species is a kind of organism. ... A variety is a recognised division of a species in botany, next below the rank of subspecies; in zoology, species are only divided into subspecies and never into varieties. ... See genus (mathematics) for the use of the term in mathematics. ...

Examples

Arisaema candidissimum - candidissimum is the epithet. Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa - edulis and flavicarpa are epithets.

See also

• Bahuvrihi, a Proto-Indo-European formation designed for epitheta.