epithet

Pluralepithets

1. 1
   insultnouncountable

   An abusive or contemptuous word or phrase, such as a slur.

   The senator apologized after an aide was caught using a racial epithet in a private chat.

   The coach was fired after players reported the epithets he used at practice.

   UsageOften a racial epithet; reports say someone shouted or used epithets.

   Similarslur, insult

   Note

   News writing leans on this sense: a report says that protesters shouted epithets, or that someone used a racial epithet, and so names the offense without printing the slur. In that setting the word works as a polite cover, which is why a modern reader hears insult in it first, even where a writer meant only a describing word.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A descriptive word or phrase that characterizes a person, god, or thing, often added to or used in place of a name, as in 'Alexander the Great' or 'grey-eyed Athena'.

   Reviewers kept reaching for the same epithet, calling the novel 'luminous' in nearly every notice.

   The general earned flattering epithets from the press after the campaign.

   Similarlabel, nickname, title, sobriquet, descriptor

   Note

   Older writing uses it freely for fond words; in Letitia Elizabeth Landon's Romance and Reality one character leans on Beatrice's shoulder, applying to her "some childish and endearing epithet". Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Letitia Elizabeth Landon wrote Romance and Reality. en.wikipedia.org
   • The novel's narrator describes a character leaning on Beatrice's shoulder and applying the quoted affectionate epithet. en.wiktionary.org
3. 3
   scientific namenouncountable

   In the scientific names of plants, fungi and bacteria, a word following the genus or species name; for animals the matching term is the specific name.

   The botanist chose a specific epithet honoring the collector who first found the orchid.

   Subspecies and variety epithets follow the species name and are written in lowercase italics.

   Note

   Botanists speak of the specific epithet, the second word of a species name after the genus; names below the species add a further epithet after a rank word such as subsp. or var. Zoologists also use two-part species names but call that second word the specific name, so in writing about animals, specific name is the term to use. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • In botanical species names, the specific epithet follows the genus name. iapt-taxon.org
   • Botanical names below species rank add an infraspecific epithet with a connecting term indicating rank. iapt-taxon.org
   • Zoological species names likewise have two components, but subspecies names are trinomina: the species binomen followed directly by a subspecific name, without the botanical connecting rank term. code.iczn.org
   • The second component of a zoological species name is called the specific name. iczn.org

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