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The Word of the Day for October 22 is:

epithet   \EH-puh-thet\   (noun)
     1 : a characterizing word or phrase accompanying or
occurring in place of the name of a person or thing
    *2 : a disparaging or abusive word or phrase

Example sentence:
     Whatever you do, just don't call Becky a "hillbilly" --
she considers the term to be an epithet and it makes her
hopping mad.

Did you know?
     Nowadays, "epithet" is usually used negatively, with the
meaning "a derogatory word or phrase," but it wasn't always
that way. "Epithet" comes to us via Latin from the Greek noun
"epitheton" and ultimately derives from "epitithenai," meaning
"to put on, add." In its oldest sense, an "epithet" is simply a
descriptive word or phrase, especially one joined by fixed
association to the name of someone or something (as in "Peter
the Great" or the stock Homeric phrases "gray-eyed Athena" and
"wine-dark sea"). Alternatively, epithets may be used in place
of a name (as in "the Peacemaker" or "the Eternal"). These
neutral meanings of "epithet" are still in use, but today the
word is more often used in its negative "term of disparagement"
sense.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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