An epitaph is the inscription on a gravestone, while an epithet is a descriptive name or label for someone. Link the taph in epitaph with a tomb; calling Richard I the Lionheart is an epithet.
The core difference
An epitaph is words written in memory of a dead person, usually on a tomb, whereas an epithet is a descriptive term used to characterise or name a person or thing.
- epitaph — words inscribed on a gravestone or tomb: Her epitaph simply read, "She loved fiercely and lived well."
- epithet — a term that characterises a person or thing, or stands in for their name: The epithet Lionheart stuck to the king for centuries.
How to tell them apart
Epitaph comes from Greek words meaning over a tomb, so link the ending with a grave: an epitaph lives on a tomb. Epithet, from a Greek word meaning additional, is something added to a name, such as a nickname or a descriptive tag like the Iliad's formulaic phrases.
The mix-up shows up because the two words look and sound alike and both concern how a person is described. If the words are carved in stone for someone who has died, use epitaph. If a label is attached to a living or historical figure, use epithet.
