Home > Epithet

1 Linguistics:

An epithet (Greek epitheton) is a descriptive word or phrase, often metaphoric, that is essentially a reduced or condensed appositive. Epithets are sometimes attached to a person's name, such as Richard the Lionheart or Alexander the Great. In contemporary usage, epithet often means an abusive or defamatory phrase.

Not every adjective is an epithet, even worn clichés. An epithet is linked to its noun by long-established usage and not otherwise employed. Sometimes the epithet is required to distinguish, say Charles the Fat from Charles the Bald.

A Greek deity's epithet may reflect a particular aspect of that god's role, as Apollo Musagetes is " Apollo, [as] leader of the Muses." Alternatively the epithet may identify a particular and localized aspect of the god, sometimes already ancient during the classical epoch of Greece. A goddess with many such epithets is Demeter.

Epithets are characteristic of the style of ancient epic poetry, most notably that of Homer. See epithets in Homer. When James Joyce uses the phrase "the snot-green sea" he is playing on Homer's familiar epithet "the wine-dark sea" with a kind of mock-epithet.

2 TaxonomyTaxonomy may refer to either a hierarchical classification of things, or the principles underlying the classification. Almost anythinganimate objects, inanimate objects, places, and eventsmay be classified according to some taxonomic scheme. Mathematicall/ BiologyBiology studies the variety of life clockwise from top-left E. coli tree fern, gazelle, Goliath beetle Biology is the science of life. It is concerned with the characteristics and behaviors of organisms, how species and individuals come into existence, an

An epithet is a word in the scientific name of an animal or plant, following the name of the genusSee genus (mathematics) for the use of the term in mathematics. See genus (music) for the use of the term in music. In biology, a genus (plural genera is a grouping in the classification of living organisms having one or more related and morphologically s and denoting a speciesThis article discusses biological species. Also see combinatorial species for the mathematical meaning of the term. Species is also a movie by Roger Donaldson. In English "species" is both singular and plural. The word " specie" is unrelated and is used t, varietyA variety is a recognised division of a species in botany, next below the rank of subspecies; in zoology, species are only ever divided into subspecies and not into varieties. The pincushion cactus, Escobaria vivipara (Nutt. is a wide-ranging variable spe, or other division of the genusSee genus (mathematics) for the use of the term in mathematics. See genus (music) for the use of the term in music. In biology, a genus (plural genera is a grouping in the classification of living organisms having one or more related and morphologically s.

Examples:

Arisaema candidissimum - candidissimum is the epithet. Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa - edulis and flavicarpa are epithets.