this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2024
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Word of the Day

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This is a place to post words you read and had to look up or simply enjoyed the rare word drop in something you read.

Post only the word(s) in the title bar, and the definition(s) in the post body along with the title/author of what you were reading when you encountered it. Posts are not intended as book reviews, but the comments section is free game.

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epithet (plural epithets)

  1. A term used to characterize a person or thing.
  2. (mythology) A term used as a qualifier of the name of a deity in order to designate said deity in a particular aspect or role.
  3. A term used as a descriptive substitute for the name or title of a person.
  4. One of many formulaic words or phrases used in the Iliad and Odyssey to characterize a person, a group of people, or a thing.
  5. An abusive or contemptuous word or phrase.
  6. (taxonomy) A word in the scientific name of a taxon following the name of the genus or species. This applies only to formal names of plants, fungi and bacteria. In formal names of animals the corresponding term is the specific name.

Synonyms

  • (descriptive substitute): cognomen; eponym, surname (archaic)

Derived terms

  • epithetic
  • epithetical
  • epithetically

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/epithet

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