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# epithet

«epithet» in Mova's school dictionary: **A describing word or phrase added to a name, like «the…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (an epithet, epithets)

### meaning for a pupil

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://md.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://md.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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/#m3)

### sense 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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/#x1)
- Richard I had the epithet «Lionheart». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/#x2)
- Homer gives Athena the epithet «grey-eyed». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/#x3)
- The bully shouted nasty epithets in the playground. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/#x4)
- Mum's epithet for my bedroom is «the swamp». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/#x5)
- Can you think of a fun epithet for your pet? [tree →](https://md.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://md.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).

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «epithet» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/epithet/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.