\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.
         A prince [Henry III.] to whom the epithet
         ``worthless'' seems best applicable.  --Hallam.
2. Term; expression; phrase. ``Stiffed 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.

\Ep"i*thet\, v. t.
To describe by an epithet. [R.]
      Never was a town better epitheted.       --Sir H.
                                               Wotton.