Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Epithet \Ep"i*thet\, v. t.
   To describe by an epithet. [R.]

         Never was a town better epitheted.       --Sir H.
                                                  Wotton.

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.

            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.

Source : WordNet®

epithet
     n 1: a defamatory or abusive word or phrase; "sticks and stones
          may break my bones but names can never hurt me" [syn: {name}]
     2: descriptive word or phrase