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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Epithet \Ep"i*thet\, n. [L. epitheton, Gr. ?, fr. ? added, fr. ?
to add; 'epi` upon, to ? to put, place: cf. F.
['e]pith[`e]te. See {Do}.]
1. An adjective expressing some quality, attribute, or
relation, that is properly or specially appropriate to a
person or thing; as, a just man; a verdant lawn.
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A prince [Henry III.] to whom the epithet
"worthless" seems best applicable. --Hallam.
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2. Term; expression; phrase. "Stuffed with epithets of war."
--Shak.

Syn: {Epithet}, {Title}.

Usage: The name epithet was formerly extended to nouns which
give a title or describe character (as the "epithet of
liar"), but is now confined wholly to adjectives. Some
rhetoricians, as Whately, restrict it still further,
considering the term epithet as belonging only to a
limited class of adjectives, viz., those which add
nothing to the sense of their noun, but simply hold
forth some quality necessarily implied therein; as,
the bright sun, the lofty heavens, etc. But this
restriction does not prevail in general literature.
Epithet is sometimes confounded with application,
which is always a noun or its equivalent.
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Epithet \Ep"i*thet\, v. t.
To describe by an epithet. [R.]
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Never was a town better epitheted. --Sir H.
Wotton.
Epithetic