Epithet

An epithet (Greek and Latin epitheton; literally meaning 'imposed') is a descriptive word or phrase. It has various shades of meaning when applied to linguistics, religion, and biological nomenclature.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In linguistics an epithet is often metaphoric, 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.

Metaphor: In language, a metaphor is a rhetorical trope defined as a direct comparison between two seemingly unrelated subjects. Typically, a first object is described as being or having the properties of a second object. In this way, the first object can be economically described because implicit and explici...

Appositive: In grammar, an appositive is defined as a noun phrase that generally follows, but occasionally precedes, another noun phrase and renames or describes it. One way to identify an appositive is to ask the question: could this phrase replace the word next to it? Does this phrase make the word next to it...

Cliché: A clich? (from French clich?, onomatopoeia for stereotype) originally was a printing term for a semi-permanently assembled piece of type which could easily be inserted into the document being printed. It has come to mean a phrase, expression, or idea that has been overused to the point of losing its...