épithète

Épithète is a term used in grammar and rhetoric to designate a modifier that directly attributes a quality to a noun within a noun phrase. It is typically an adjective, but can also be a short adjectival phrase, and its function is to describe the noun without requiring a preposition or auxiliary word.

In French, two main uses are recognized. L’épithète attributive (or simply épithète) attaches to the noun as part of the noun phrase, and its placement (before or after the noun) can affect nuance: for example, une grande ville (precedes the noun, often with a qualitative emphasis) versus une ville verte (following the noun). By contrast, l’épithète détachée is used when the attribute is separated from the noun by punctuation or a pause, for example: Cet homme, courageux et obstiné, inspira le groupe.

Épithète differs from the complément du nom, which completes the meaning of the noun with a dependent prepositional phrase (une boîte de vitesse, une robe en soie). The épithète does not require a linking preposition and remains a characteristic ascribed to the noun rather than a relational element.

Rhetorically, epithets can be descriptive, evaluative, or metaphorical, and may contribute to tone, characterization, or emphasis, especially in poetry or stylistic prose.

Etymology traces back to Greek epithetos, through Latin epithetum, meaning a name attached to someone or something.

See also: attribut, adjectif qualificatif, complément du nom.