2. descriptive word added to name: a descriptive word or phrase added to or substituted for the name of somebody or something, highlighting a feature or quality easy to see how she earned herself the epithet "The All-Knowing"
3. biology part of taxonomic name: in biological classification, the species name that follows the genus name
[Late 16th century. Directly or via French épithète< Latin epitheton "something added" < Greek epitheto, past participle of epitithenai "put on" < tithenai "to place"]
