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# epithet

noun (an epithet, epithets)

«epithet» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A describing word or phrase added to a name, like «the Great» in «Alfred the Great» or «Lionheart» in «Richard the Lionheart». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/#m1)
2. A word used to describe someone, often an insult or nasty name. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/#m2)
3. (stories, poems) A short describing phrase used again and again, like «rosy-fingered dawn» in old Greek poems. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/#m3)

### In the lessons

In history lessons, kings and queens have epithets: «William the Conqueror», «Ivan the Terrible», «Ethelred the Unready». In English lessons, epithets are describing phrases in poems and myths. In everyday news, an «epithet» can mean an insulting name, which is unkind.

### Examples

- «The Great» is an epithet given to Alfred. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/#x1)
- Richard I had the epithet «Lionheart». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/#x2)
- Homer gives Athena the epithet «grey-eyed». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/#x3)
- The bully shouted nasty epithets in the playground. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/#x4)
- Mum's epithet for my bedroom is «the swamp». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/#x5)
- Can you think of a fun epithet for your pet? [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/#x6)
- She was worshipped as Venus Cloacina (or the Purifier), and as Venus Myrtea (or the myrtle goddess), an epithet derived from the myrtle, the emblem of Love. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/#x7)

### Note

Said «EP-ih-thet». Countable. Close words: «nickname», «title», «label». An epithet is not an «epitaph» (words on a gravestone).

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «epithet» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«epithet» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/epithet.html) on Mova free.