epithet

Etymology

Came into English from Middle French épithète, from Latin epithetum, epitheton, from Ancient Greek ἐπίθετον (epítheton, “epithet, adjective”), the neuter of ἐπίθετος (epíthetos, “additional”). That in turn came from ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi, “to add on”), from ἐπι- (epi-, “in addition”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put”) (a suffix possibly related to title in the sense of "ascribed appellation"), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, to do”). It is a doublet of epitheton.