epithite

epithite

English

Etymology

Ancient Greek

Noun

epithite (plural epithites)

1. (obsolete) A lazy, worthless fellow; a vagrant.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Mason to this entry?)

   • 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.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for epithite in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)