epithite

English

Etymology

Ancient Greek

Noun

epithite (plural epithites)

1. (obsolete) A lazy, worthless fellow; a vagrant.
   • 1646/50, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica:

     And therefore wise men have alwaies applauded their own judgement, in the contradiction of that of the people; and their soberest adversaries, have ever afforded them the stile of fools and mad men; and to speak impartially, their actions have often made good these Epithites.

2. Obsolete spelling of epithet
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act V, scene ii:

     Faire is too foule an Epithite for thee

References

• “epithite”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.