Epithet
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"MOST countries have some characteristic epithet bestowed on them by themselves or others, in the latter case not always a flattering one, witness "perfide Albion." The green pastures of Ireland have won for her the name of "the Emerald Isle"; the Cymri, proud of their hills, sing of "Wild Wales;" "Holy Russia" boasts of her "sanctity;" England and Norway pride themselves on being "old," while America plumes herself on her youth; Italy may unquestioned call herself "bella," and France too claims the same title. To the troubadours she was "douce France," and to Mary Stuart "le plaisant pays," but whether she has any right to be called "Fair," or whether her beauty is merely borrowed from her neighbours, will always remain a question to be settled only by the taste of the individual. If he can feel the beauty of her hillsides, bright green in the clear atmosphere, and with a true mountain character in their lines, or the charm of her sunlit meadows, over which the poplars cast long shadows as they stand along the winding streams, or the striking character of her finely situated towns, with their stately churches, then he will say that la belle France well deserves her name."-- France (1881) by Margaret Roberts |
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An epithet (Greek — επιθετον and Latin — epitheton; literally meaning 'imposed') is a descriptive word or phrase that has become a fixed formula. It has various shades of meaning when applied to real or fictitious people, divinities, objects and biological nomenclature.
See also
- Bahuvrihi, a Proto-Indo-European formation designed for epithets.
- List of ethnic slurs
- List of monarchs by nickname
- List of nicknames of European Royalty and Nobility
- Moniker
- Nickname
- Sobriquet