ἐπίθετον

Forms

ἐπίθετον (epítheton) n (genitive ἐπιθέτου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the neuter of an adjective used as a noun, from Ancient Greek ἐπίθετος (epíthetos, “added, additional”),^[1][2][3] a verbal adjective of ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi, “to put on, add”).^[4][3] The grammatical term reflects the idea that such words are “placed upon” the noun, as their qualifiers.^[3] Late Latin made the parallel term Latin adiectīvum in the same way, from adiciō (“to throw on, add”).^[3]

Latin borrowed the Greek noun as Latin epitheton.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aristotle's Rhetoric is the first text to use it as a noun, for an epithet, a descriptive word added to a name.^[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective ἐπίθετος (epíthetos) meant “added”, and at Athens “newly added” as opposed to ancestral: festivals, or the powers the Areopagus had acquired.^[2][6] As a noun the neuter first meant an epithet in rhetoric and then, with the Hellenistic grammarians, who also said “adjectival noun”, an adjective.^[2][3][4] Plutarch used it for a Roman cognomen, a third name recalling some exploit or feature of the body.^[6] The Byzantine lexicon of Zonaras defines it as a name, given to persons or things, that expresses praise or blame, drawn from the soul, the body or outward circumstances.^[7]

English epithet (1570s) comes from French épithète or directly from Latin.^[8] Modern Greek επίθετο (epítheto) means an adjective and an epithet, and also a surname, a sense modelled on French surnom.^[9][3]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – Aristotle's Rhetoric uses it for an epithet.^[2][6][10]
• 2nd–1st century BC – Dionysius Thrax uses it for the adjectival noun.^[2][11][10]
• 1st century BC – Dionysius of Halicarnassus uses it for an epithet in style.^[2][4][10]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it for a Roman cognomen.^[6][10]
• 2nd century AD – Apollonius Dyscolus uses it for the adjective as a grammatical term.^[2][10]
• 13th century AD – The lexicon of Zonaras defines it as a name of praise or blame.^[7][10]
• 1570s – English borrows epithet from French or Latin.^[8]
• Modern Greek – επίθετο (epítheto) means an adjective, an epithet and a surname.^[9][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An epithet, a descriptive word added to a name.^[2][6][12]
2. (grammar) An adjective.^[2][4][12]
3. An additional name, a cognomen.^[6]

Related words

• ἐπίθετος (epíthetos)
• ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi)
• Latin epitheton
• English epithet

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c d Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
5. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
6. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, ed. Johann August Heinrich Tittmann (1808), Iohannis Zonarae Lexicon, Leipzig: Crusius
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
11. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
12. ^ a b Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli