epíteto

Forms

epíteto m (plural epítetos)^[1] 16th- and 17th-century texts also write epícteto and epitecto.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin epitheton (“epithet, adjective”), a grammarians' term taken from Ancient Greek ἐπίθετον (epítheton), literally “something added”.^[4][5][1][6] The Greek word is the neuter of ἐπίθετος (epíthetos, “added”), from ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi, “to add on”), formed of ἐπί (epí, “upon”) and τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put, place”).^[1] Wikcionario traces the verb to Proto-Indo-European *dhe- (“to put”).^[7]

Corominas lists it among the learned words from the same Greek verb, with tesis, tema, hipótesis and epéntesis.^[4] Quintilian already uses the Latin word for an adjective used attributively.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest hit in the CDH is the Spanish translation of Isidore's Etymologies (after 1450, in a later 15th-century copy), which calls pena a noun of this kind: E es nombre epíteto e sin añadimiento non ha complido seso nin entendimiento “and it is an epithet noun, and without an addition it has no complete sense or meaning”.^[2] Alfonso de Palencia's Universal vocabulario (1490) still explains it as a Latin word, without a Spanish equivalent.^[4][2] The DCECH's first record is Fernández de Villegas in 1515, then F. de Herrera in 1580.^[4][8]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed a term of grammar and rhetoric: in 1817 the Academy defined it as an adjective added to a noun to express a quality attributed to it, as in mano blanca, and in 1899 as an adjective or participle whose main purpose is to characterise the noun rather than to specify it.^[9][10] In the Americas it is recorded from 1560 in the sense of a title or name given to someone, spelt epícteto.^[3] The DLE now adds a fixed name that characterises a person or thing, and a qualifying expression used as praise or, more often, as an insult.^[5] Moliner calls the insulting use the common one in everyday language.^[11] In the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico it means an offensive name.^[12][13]

Timeline

• after 1450 – nombre epíteto in the Spanish translation of Isidore's Etymologies.^[2]
• 1490 – Palencia explains it as a Latin word.^[4][2]
• 1515 – the first record in the DCECH, in Fernández de Villegas.^[4][8]
• 1560 – first record from the Americas, as epícteto, in Yucatán.^[3]
• 1580 – used by F. de Herrera.^[4]
• 1817 – the Academy defines it as an adjective expressing a quality of the noun.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (grammar) An adjective that names a typical quality of its noun without restricting it: En el frío hielo, frío es un epíteto.^[5][1]
2. A fixed word or phrase used to characterise a person or thing, an epithet or byname: Le quedó para siempre el epíteto de el Breve.^[5]
3. A qualifying expression used as praise or, more often, as an insult: Se dedicaron toda clase de epítetos.^[5][11]
4. (Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico) An offensive name.^[12][13]

Related words

• tesis
• tema
• hipótesis
• epéntesis
• French épithète

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. epíteto
3. ^ a b c Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. epícteto
4. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 475
5. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. epíteto
6. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
8. ^ a b Segura Munguía, Santiago (2014), Lexicón etimológico y semántico del latín y de las voces actuales que proceden de raíces latinas o griegas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 224
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 373
10. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 409
11. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. epíteto
12. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. epíteto
13. ^ a b Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. epíteto